Some of the team visited Blyth and the William II Tall Ship, another National Lottery Heritage Fund funded project to learn more about their strong volunteering programme.
The team explored the project's tall ship, William II, as well as two workshops where a team of specialists, volunteers, and trainees are working on projects from simple woodwork to building a brand new vessels. These spaces play host to the project's successful volunteering support (350 active volunteers) and apprenticeship programme, supporting trainees gaining various NVQ qualifications.
They saw the work of the joinery and engineering trainees - one of which is gaining hands on experience building a full size 'Zulu' fishing boat that used to be very common in Blyth (now only a handful left in Scotland).
As the two teams swapped notes on the two projects, they headed over to see their new site in the town of Blyth, where they had a "knit and natter" session running with local people learning how to knit ganseys. This is one session in a programme of maritime heritage courses titled 'Learning the Ropes' which are aimed at supporting wellbeing and helping people develop new skills. Most of these sessions are volunteer-run and reflect the dedication and importance of the Friends of Blyth Tall Ship to this project.
The Hull Maritime team also shared experiences of developing a capital development project, as they are in the process of bidding for a £4m project to create a Blyth port museum in this space.
