All hands on deck for social integration

Providing a leg-up for the socially excluded through restoration of old sailboats which are often listed : this is the course chartered by the Conservatoire maritime du Havre de Grâce.

Social and Employment

Place
France

Sponsor
Gaëtan Zaouter, Veolia Energie - Dalkia

Grant(s)
9,500 € to the Selection Committee at 2005/05/31

Project leader

Conservatoire maritime du Havre

cmhg76.maritime.free.fr

« Restoring human dignity by restoring boats: the Conservatoire Maritime is engaged in a truly worthwhile endeavour! »

Gaëtan Zaouter

This association, which was founded by sailing enthusiasts, has been running a worksite for the socially excluded since 1996. Every year, it takes on about fifteen people on CES (back-to-work) contracts and trains them in restoration of traditionally built craft. A dynamic, integrated programme but, most importantly, one which works! Of the fifteen people employed by the association each year, 60% go on to further training or employment.

From the restoration of sailboats to maintenance of pleasure craft

To ensure the long-term impact of its charitable work, the association has decided to develop maintenance activities for pleasure sailing at a workshop loaned by the autonomous port of Le Havre. A project which meets a genuine demand from private customers for maintenance and repair work or even production of parts.
The association has already created an additional post of "pleasure boating maintenance technician" which will be filled by someone at the end of their social integration contract. For these new activities to be successfully undertaken, part of the installed machine-tool base needs to be upgraded (band mill, woodshaper, etc.) while a utility vehicle, essential for external worksites (craft afloat or wintered on the quay side), is also needed. Partly funded by the association's own funds, which reflects its strong commitment to this new challenge, this expenditure has also been covered by the Veolia foundation to the tune of 9,500 euros.