Matthew Vigar

Background
Matt was born in 1985 and started his life living in Purbrook, but by 1989 events saw his family moved to Somerstown - the toughest area of Portsmouth bar none.

Early promise at school saw him gain a bursary to St John's College, the top school in the area. However, things then started to go wrong. Matt found it almost impossible to make friends at school due to the stigma of living in Somerstown, yet was ostracised by those his own age in Somerstown because he went to an independent school.

Unsurprisingly his schoolwork suffered and he left school with just 3 GCSE's. Despite that, Matt was determined not to give up and found himself a place at South Downs College to study ICT. He finished the course, but received only a DD in his ICT A-level and a GCSE in English Language.

Dissatisfaction with ICT and relatively poor grades left Matt rather adrift and unsure of where to go next. Chance brought him to the Portsmouth Outdoor Education Unit and involvement with first the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and then The Meridian Trust Association. A love of sailing rapidly followed and Matt jumped at the chance to become a part of The Raymarine Lively Lady Project.

However, a love of sailing is not all that Matt has gained. He has acquired improved organisational skills through the training he's received in provisioning, running the stores and preparing for expeditions - all vital to being a part of a round the world voyage. In the process he's also acquired a Duke of Edinburgh's Silver Award!

That's just the start though. With the support of The Raymarine Lively Lady Project and the Portsmouth Outdoor Education Unit, Matt has rediscovered many of the essential qualities he had kept hidden from himself for years. He has gained enormously in confidence and knows he is capable of doing much more than before.

Buoyed up by the life skills he is gaining and the support he is receiving, Matt has enrolled once more at South Downs College. This time he is studying for AS levels in Environmental Science, Geology and Psychology. These days he aims much higher than before and plans to go to university to study Psychology at degree level, after which he hopes to either teach or work with young people in a disadvantaged position in the community. It should be a wonderful chance for him to share much of what he has learnt with the help of The Raymarine Lively Lady Project.

Why I want to go - in Matt's own words
I want to go on the Lively Lady project to gain experience of the extreme nature of ocean sailing, especially in yacht the size of Lively Lady. During the journey I know I'll come into contact with some very different cultures and the skills I'm learning about how to integrate and be acceptable to those communities will carry through into every day life back home. I also want to experience some of the hardships and challenges faced by Sir Alec Rose as I know I'll come out stronger for doing so.

I see this as an opportunity of a lifetime; to sail in a world-renowned yacht with an experienced skipper. But I also see this as a kind of new start where I can train to do something I truly enjoy and can learn to help others at the same time.

In the process, I hope to gain more sailing experience and more confidence in myself and learn new skills that are valuable in all areas of my life. I also hope to gain new friends with different life experiences to myself and to make contacts in the sailing world so I can try and join sail training organisations in the future and help others gain a fresh start.