Léman Hope: 2025, a year that opened new avenues

Léman Hope supports young people in remission from cancer by offering them therapeutic cruises on Lake Geneva. On board our sailboats, they find a space to rebuild themselves, far from the medical setting, surrounded by trained adults and a crew who have lived through the same experience. 2025 was a pivotal year: more young people, more boats, more collective momentum. A year in which the lake became the scene of profound transformations and, a few weeks later, with Swim4Lémanhope, of a solidarity movement on an unprecedented scale.

When the sailboats glided into the port of Ouchy for the last time at the end of July, the lake seemed to hold its breath too. The Léman Hope 2025 cruises were coming to an end, and the young people disembarked with that special light in their eyes: the kind you see when you have regained confidence almost without realizing it. This year, three cruises were organized throughout July, bringing together 71 young people, including 11 siblings, spread across 18 sailboats, six of which were Swiss German. They were accompanied by 35 skippers and instructors, 50% of whom were new, as well as a team of 40 volunteers working on shore (logistics, support, medical). It was a true collective effort, discreet but essential, to ensure that each young person could experience this period of rebuilding.

Because on board, something happens that goes beyond sailing. Many young people arrive with fragile strength, lingering doubts, and a feeling of disconnect inherited from their illness. Then, all it takes is a few hours, a rising wind, an encouraging skipper, and a crew that understands each other in silence for their shoulders to relax.

We learn to steer, to cooperate, to laugh without restraint. We rediscover a rhythm, a place, a slightly more solid version of ourselves.

As the days go by, the lake becomes a place of rebirth.

Those who witness this transformation never forget it. And it inspires them to take action. To support. To take these young people a little further. This is how another adventure that marked the year was born and grew: Swim4Lémanhope.

A few weeks after the cruises, Lake Geneva experienced a new wave of excitement. This time, it wasn't sailboats leaving their wake, but swimmers. A huge wave, determined and united.

From August 27 to 29, 2025, 920 swimmers, divided into 106 teams from 46 companies, crossed the lake in relays from Geneva to Chillon. Three days of shared effort, close relays, and shouts of encouragement from each shore. This was not just another sporting challenge. It was a response. An impulse born of what the cruises create in young people: the desire to accompany them, to support them, to tell them bluntly that their path matters. Each stroke of the arm was a way of prolonging their newfound breath, of surpassing themselves, of saying: we are here, we are carrying you, we are helping you move forward.

The cruises and Swim4Lémanhope are not two separate stories: they are two movements of the same wave.
First, there was the personal transformation experienced on the sailboats. Then camethe powerfulcollective momentum that swept across the lake to ensure that these cruises could continue, even better and further than before. As we close the year 2025, one thing remains certain: none of this would have been possible without you. Your actions, your resources, your support, and your trust have given young people a space to breathe, dream, rebuild themselves, and be surrounded by a community that will not abandon them.

And as the holidays approach and the end-of-year lights reflect on the lake, there is something deeply symbolic about this wave of mutual aid.
Because if the cruises exist , if Swim4Lémanhope brings people together , if these young people regain their confidence, it is thanks to this generosity.

🎁 Making a donation means continuing this movement.

It means allowing a young person to come aboard when they need it most.
It means making possible a cruise that restores breath, joy, and momentum.
It means transforming an intention into a direct, concrete, immediate impact, with every dollar dedicated to young people.
In this season of giving to bring joy but also to give meaning, your support becomes a true gift: a gesture that continues to have an impact long after it has been made. Thank you for keeping this wave of hope alive. It is beautiful, it is strong, and thanks to you, it continues to grow.