Cruises
After the disease, Léman hope takes over: Léman hope cruises are designed to help young people, aged 8 to 21, in remission from cancer to regain their self-confidence after the disease.
How can you take part? Every child and teenager living in Switzerland or neighboring France, aged 8 to 21, who has completed cancer treatment (even long ago) deserves a place on a Léman hope cruise.
The next cruises will take place :
The format
In groups of four, young people spend 5 days and 4 nights on Lake Geneva aboard a cruising sailboat (between 8 m and 10 m long). An introduction to sailing, swimming, games or cooking: life on the boat is full of activities. What's more, stopovers enable young people to discover new places around the lake every day and share in an unforgettable adventure.
Framing
On board each boat, the 4 youngsters are accompanied by an experienced skipper and an instructor who have been touched by cancer in one way or another. A medical team is on stand-by throughout the cruise. On the quayside, a team of Foundation volunteers takes care of logistics and ongoing support.
Navigation
Throughout the cruise, youngsters are introduced to the art of sailing aboard a sailboat on Lake Geneva. This experience allows them to discover a new world in which they are immediately given a sense of responsibility. Under the guidance of a skipper, the children handle the sails, steer the boat and carry out the many tasks involved in sailing on the water: building self-confidence with a taste of freedom.
Swimming
A cruise aboard a sailboat on Lake Geneva is first and foremost an opportunity to swim and play in the water in many different places. Letting the boat pull you along on a rope, battling with water pistols from one boat to the next - these are just some of the water games that youngsters love. Great moments of relaxation and laughter in a safe and reassuring environment.
The games
In addition to sailing and swimming, games of Uno, Loup Garou and other board games are also part of the program on Léman hope cruises. The young sailors share great moments of complicity around a table, rediscovering the serenity of a happy childhood, far from the ordeals they have previously endured.
Life on board
During Léman hope cruises, young people participate fully in life on the sailboat. They contribute to daily tasks on board the boat and are involved in preparing meals. It's an opportunity to discover community life in a small group where their voice counts, and where they have room to express themselves while listening to each other. Together, they draw up a charter for life on the boat.
The stages
Every day, Léman hope cruises call at a new port on Lake Geneva. Whether in the mysterious atmosphere of the Old Rhone, on the outskirts of Chillon Castle or eating an ice cream under the Freddie Mercury statue on the quays of Montreux, Geneva or even France, sailors have the opportunity to visit many of the places that make the Lake Geneva region so beautiful.
And from 2026, for the first time, the cruises will be exported to German-speaking Switzerland, on Lake Constance, offering young sailors a new land of adventure and discovery.
