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The Eric Twiname TrustThose of us who knew Eric well find it hard to believe that he died in 1979 and it comes as a shock to realise that many sailing today were not even born then. So, asking forgiveness from those who are of a more mature generation we will answer the question – who was Eric Twiname ? He was a rare individual who could excel at many things. He was a brilliant pianist, a prolific writer of books, articles and plays and a superb sailor. Taught at an early age by his father it was in this activity that Eric really excelled and, in addition to winning many championships in GP14’s, Lasers and International Canoes, he had a profound influence on the administration of sailing, both in the area of the Racing Rules (his book "The Rules Book" – 1977 was a sailing best seller) and in writing what was, for many years, the definitive book on Dinghy Team Racing, published in 1971 and now long out of print. The Trust was set up in an informal way in 1980 by his father Alec in order to continue Eric’s many and diverse interests in sailing. At first the Trust responded to calls for funding from many areas, including round the world yachtsmen, disabled sailors and Olympic campaigns, Alec paying the grants out of his own pocket. However a more formal approach emerged with the formation of a Charitable Trust, with a concentration on youth sailing, especially racing. Alec Twiname settled an amount of capital to the Trust, which was invested to provide a steady annual income. Alec died in 1996 and his widow, Hazel, now heads the Trust. The finances of the Trust and the designation of funds are run by a small team of Trustees, all sailors who knew Eric well. The administration is run on a voluntary basis, so overheads are minimal and the revenue consisting of fundraising, small donations and the income of capital is always put to optimum effect. There cannot be many young sailors who have not been helped in some way by the Trust, and we are now experiencing to our great delight that young sprogs, first appearing on Optimist courses or the Regional final, are now in the National Olympic team winning, in one outstanding instance, an Olympic medal. Over the 18 years of activity, the Trust has helped many causes, and to give a flavour of our present activity, the following are the grant applications for 1998:
Trustees: Hazel Twiname, Bruce Aitken, Jim Kirkpatrick, Bryan Willis, Peter Whipp and John Reed (Administrator) P.O. Box 2. Bordon Hampshire GU 35 9JX |
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