Volunteers restoring an extraordinary war rescue boat have opened up on how the project to save it has helped their own mental health.
The Dumbarton-based Skylark IX Recovery Project is amongst the first award recipients in the UK to share personal stories on the National Lottery’s brand new podcast ‘Amazing Starts Here’.
Hosted by former Love Island winner Amber Rose-Gill, it tells ‘the origin stories of real-life superheroes who are changing the world on their own terms’ and has been selected by Apple Podcasts as a must-listen.
Chatting to Amber in ‘Skylark IX: The Battered and Bruised War Hero’, boatbuilder James Currie, community engagement lead Jade West and boatbuilding project lead Jae Bradley open up about their mental health.
Together, they describe how the Dunkirk little Ship Skylark IX and wider activities of the Skylark IX Recovery Project have helped them on their personal journey to wellbeing.
Opening up on her own struggles with anxiety, Jade said: “I really recognise, because I’ve lived it, how important community-based opportunities like this are for people.
“Through the transformative space we’ve created in the workshop, we’re understanding the power of working and learning together. It’s something really special and amazing to be a part of.
“We also open the doors to the workshop as much as we can and, for some people in the community, this might be the first time they have knowingly interacted in a positive way with someone with an addiction.
“We all hit bumps in the road and, here at the workshop, people can see our volunteer trainees turning their lives around and understand how Skylark IX is a symbol of that journey and that resilience.” The trio also explain the powerful meaning behind the project’s motto ‘Recovery through Recovery’.
They describe how it reflects Skylark IX’s history of recovering and saving soldiers from Dunkirk, her own later recovery from a watery grave in the River Leven and her role today in helping people on their own recovery journey from addictions.
Skylark saved more than 600 allied soldiers during World War Two, transporting them from beaches in Dunkirk to the safety of larger vessels whilst under heavy fire. She then returned to Loch Lomond and the Leven, operating as a tourist boat for Sweeney’s for more than 30 years before sinking in June 2010.
After two years underwater, Skylark herself was rescued, with the Skylark Recovery Trust working in partnership with local addiction recovery charity Alternatives to restore her to her former glory.
It followed funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, which awarded the Trust a grant of £404,000 in 2018.
For boatbuilder James, the symbolism of Skylark IX underpins everything:
He said: “A boat helps carry people across the water and that’s what the Skylark IX Recovery Project is for me, helping carry someone when they’re down.
“It’s someone lifting them up and showing them there’s a better way, there’s a better path, showing them a new lease of life.”
The project also delivers boatbuilding training for those recovering from addictions at Alternatives and Dumbarton Area Council on Alcohol at the Denny Tank museum.
Looking forward, the project has ambitious plans to create a bright future for Skylark IX at the heart of a proposed £3m Spirit of Skylark IX Centre in the grounds of the Dumbarton museum.
This year, they hope to use two new hand-built skiffs, ‘Happy Days’ and ‘New Beginnings’, to establish a rowing club in Dumbarton. The town was home to a successful rowing club until interest declined in the mid 1920s.
The podcast is now available on all podcast platforms and at https://AmazingStartsHere.lnk.to/Ep4. Email skylarkinfo@alternativeswd.org
