Cornish mental health charity Sea Sanctuary is giving people the chance to win a once in a lifetime sailing experience onboard their historic tall ship Irene of Bridgwater.

Embarking from Falmouth harbour on Friday, August 12, the winner and a friend could be setting sail on a cruise around Falmouth Bay, with dinner and cocktails, followed by the famous Falmouth Week fireworks, watched from the unique vantage point of the water.

Enter by June 30 to be in with a chance of wining. Entries are free, but people are being encouraged to make a voluntary donation to directly support the work of the charity, and help people access mental health and wellbeing care across Cornwall.

Founded in 2006, Sea Sanctuary is an award-winning Cornish mental health charity harnessing the power of ‘blue health’ – a firmly held belief that being around the sea, or any 'blue space', is one of the most beneficial, non-medical ways to improve mental wellbeing.

Using the setting of the sea to deliver a broad range of services, including therapeutic sailing experiences, the charity is able to offer individuals and organisations a sense of adventure, along with specialist mental health support to overcome general or specific issues, lift spirits, and restore a positive state of wellbeing.

Sea Sanctuary founder and CEO, Joseph Sabien, said: “Our therapeutic sailing programmes on our tall ship Irene give people the space to authentically connect with each other, as well as connecting with the water around them.

"As they work the sails and focus on the job in hand, they naturally start to build trust with each other, and this can lead to finally having conversations they have been too scared to start in the past.”

As ‘blue health’ pioneers, all Sea Sanctuary's mental health and wellbeing services are offered on or by water, with two vessels helping to deliver these services: Irene of Bridgwater, an historic tall ship operating out of Falmouth harbour, and The ARC, a recently renovated,180ft Dutch barge and new floating wellbeing hub, moored on the Penryn river.

Their services include one-to-one therapy and counselling delivered in river-side pods, therapeutic sailing onboard their tall ship, wellbeing groups in yoga, art and writing, workplace wellbeing for businesses, and venue hire of their two vessels.

How to enter and support Sea Sanctuary

To enter the competition, supporting the charity and helping the work it does, text ‘Fireworks’ to 70215 or visit seasanctuary.org.uk/competition

Entrants must be age 18 or over. Texts are charged at your standard network rate. Full T&Cs can be found at https://seasanctuary.org.uk/text-raffle-terms-and-conditions