Get ready for the Sailing Trips

The Sailing Trips Hope Sailing Trips are fast approaching. From July 6 to 10 and July 17 to 21, young participants will once again set sail on the magnificent waters of Lake Geneva to share an intense and unifying adventure! As every year, they will be guided with confidence, kindness, and professionalism by fantastic teams of carefully selected instructors and skippers. All the ingredients will be in place for five days and four nights in a supportive and understanding environment, outside the constraints of time. The positive effects of these Sailing Trips far beyond these few days of sailing. By facing challenges, forging new friendships, and discovering new horizons, these young people gain confidence. This experience allows them to break out of isolation, feel understood and supported, and reclaim a part of their childhood lost to treatment, as the project’s founder, Esteban Garcia, so aptly puts it: “The Sailing Trips Hope Sailing Trips are not just an adventure on the lake; they are a breath of fresh air for these young people, a way to restore their confidence and hope. Every smile and every friendship formed on board is a victory over the disease.”

The adventure is growing
This year, we are delighted to welcome 67 young people— 55 from French-speaking Switzerland and 12 from German-speaking Switzerland—ready to set sail on this unique adventure. Our young participants, aged 8 to 21, are grouped into crews of 4 or 6, speaking the same language and of similar age (give or take 3 years). This year, we are proud to represent 11 Swiss cantons as well as neighboring France, with 6 French-speaking cantons and 5 German-speaking cantons. Demand for our Sailing Trips been incredible, and for the first time, we’ve had to create a waiting list! This shows just how valuable this initiative is and how many young people want to participate. To meet this growing demand and offer this opportunity to even more young people, we really need your donations. Our goal? To welcome 300 young people by 2030! Every contribution brings us closer to our goal and helps create lasting memories for them.

A Helping Hand for Siblings
In 2023, we introduced a major new initiative: welcoming the siblings of children in remission. This initiative was met with great enthusiasm, and it is with great joy that we are continuing it in 2024. The psychological impact on the siblings of children with cancer is just as significant and deserves special attention. Sailing Trips offer these young people a precious moment all to themselves. With this in mind, Léman Hope is once again opening its doors to 15 siblings this year, offering them support and an unforgettable experience.

An Enhanced Experience
Thirty-two skippers and instructors from Sailing Trips Hope Sailing Trips joined us two months ago for two and a half days of intensive training, filled with collaboration and both theoretical and practical instruction, led by qualified instructors. ✨ We reviewed the various key topics essential for the smooth operation of Sailing Trips, such as the fundamentals of Léman Hope, pediatric cancer and its long-term impact, everyone’s roles and responsibilities during the Sailing Trip, safety and rescue, child protection, self-confidence, and emotional management tools. A crucial moment for Léman hope, as Director Priscille Varillon de Macías noted: “This is a time when we draw on our collective and individual resources to lay the groundwork for accomplishing our ONE and ONLY mission: to help these young warriors rebuild their self-confidence after their illness. And the more prepared we are, the more genuine, profound, and lasting the impact on their lives will be.”

There you go—now you know almost everything! We can’t wait to welcome you all to our 2024 Sailing Trips Hope Sailing Trips . For more info and to follow our adventures, feel free to follow us on social media. We have plenty of surprises and inspiring stories to share!

See you soon on the lake!