The Sailing Club

A gift for the future

The Club at Derwent Reservoir

Thanks to Durham University Sailing Club, students have had the opportunity to get outside and get sailing since the Club’s foundation in 1966.  Durham University Sailing Club started with one boat, which was kept in local farm buildings (refurbished by Club members) and sailed on the River Wear.  Soon after the Club purchased a second boat, and moved to Derwent Reservoir, where the Club still sails today, albeit with a whole fleet of boats.

Joining a club is a big part of the Durham experience, and many of our alumni hold happy memories of time spent with their club and often wish to commemorate it with a gift in their will.  In recent years the Sailing Club has been grateful to receive two thoughtful gifts in wills that will support it to flourish into the future.

‘When I joined the University’s Sailing Club, there was a lot of potential, but it would take a pretty monumental effort to achieve. Problem is, our boats were, quite frankly, falling to pieces.

However, that all changed with some very exciting news. An alumnus of the Club had left a donation in his will. To say we were elated is an understatement. We all instantly knew what this meant for us as a club, and it was an unbelievably exciting prospect.

It is an honour to be trusted with such incredible generosity from someone you’ve never met. It is also an honour to know I’m a small part of a community of people who felt passionately about the same sport in the same place, separated only by time.’

Isobel Hedley-Fenn (Commodore of the Sailing Club 2024-25).