Portsmouth City Council have leased Lively Lady to Alan Priddy’s charity Around and Around, for 25 years.

The full details of the agreement are still being drawn up but the de-accessioning of Lively Lady is an important step as it removes a number of restrictions on how the boat is maintained.

Critically it frees Around and Around to undertake a proper maintenance regime that can take into account the development of new technologies rather than being restricted to just repairing Lively Lady using techniques and materials available when she was built 60 years ago.

Following the completion of her successful circumnavigation in 2008 Lively Lady was handed back to her leaseholders, The Meridian Trust Association. The 38ft ketch has sat in a Hayling Island boatyard while the MTA and Priddy wrangled over her future.

There followed a lengthy campaign to get Lively Lady back on the water that attracted much support, including full backing from the extended family of Sir Alec Rose, who sailed her round the world solo in 1969. Now, with her ownership and future decided, Alan Priddy and the young adults of Around and Around can begin work to get her back onto the water.

The immediate aim is to get Lively Lady sailing by the start of next season when she will be used both for training Around and Around’s first group of young adults but also for charter trips around the coast of the UK. The charter trips are an important part of the charity’s fundraising efforts and will help with the costs of maintaining Lively Lady as well as contributing towards the young adults’ training.

In the longer term, there are also plans to take Lively Lady back out to Australia at the end of 2011 to take part in the re-run of the Round Australia Classic Cruise.

The young adults taking part in Around and Around are all between the ages of 12 and 16 and live in the area along the Solent coastline. Their life experiences to date substantially limit their future opportunities and this project aims to address those limiting factors.

Over the next year these young adults will be working towards a circumnavigation of Britain. Though the end goal is the sailing trip around Britain, the trip itself is the prize – the real focus is on the life-skills that must be acquired to get to that point. Clearly developing sailing skills will be a part of that, as will building the teamwork and self-confidence of the young adults. However, also essential are the budgeting, provisioning, organisation, planning and management skills that are vital to making any large-scale voyage such as this work and it is these life-skills that are so important in broadening their opportunities.

For more information about Lively Lady or to find out how to get involved, as a young adult or as a supporter, contact Alan Priddy on 07802 237125.