Falmouth Harbour Buoys Up Cornwall’s First Swim Festival

When the first ever Cornwall Swim Festival takes place this Sunday at Trevassack Lake on the Lizard Peninsula, safety will be boosted thanks to a donation from Falmouth Harbour.

A Partnership for Safer Waters

Ahead of the festival on Sunday 2nd November, Falmouth Harbour has supplied and funded eight new marker buoys to replace older inflatable ones that were starting to sink. The buoys are vital for water management during training sessions, events and open-water swimming at the lake.

The collaboration highlights a strong community partnership between Falmouth Harbour and the Children’s Sailing Trust, the Cornish charity that operates from Trevassack Lake helping children of all backgrounds build confidence, independence and life skills through sailing and watersports.

“Our partners in our local community help us deliver incredible experiences for children of all ages, backgrounds and abilities through sailing and watersports – and of course imperative to everything we do is safety,” said James Staughton, Chair of Children’s Sailing Trust. “For Falmouth Harbour to come on board at this critical moment, providing marker buoys ahead of such an exciting event as the first Cornwall Swim Festival is fantastic and we’re looking forward to working with the Harbour Team into the future.”

Supporting Cornwall’s Communities

As a Trust Port, Falmouth Harbour reinvests any financial surplus from its commercial and leisure operations back into the community and environment, with no shareholders or government funding.

Miles Carden, CEO of Falmouth Harbour, said, “To be able to provide some support to such an amazing charity as Children’s Sailing Trust – connected to young people in Cornwall and our incredible watery environment – is a real pleasure.

“We love working in partnerships and our sponsorship of the CST buoys is partnership in action – local marine organisations supporting grassroots community charities. Their installation in time for the Swim Festival highlights a shared commitment to safe, inclusive and environmentally responsible use of Cornwall’s waterways.

“We are always looking at ways to increase safe accessibility to the water and this is not just an amazing thing to do – it’s also about investing in the future and therefore makes sound business sense.”

The Cornwall Swim Festival

The Cornwall Swim Festival will be held this Sunday, 2nd November, from 10am to 4pm at Trevassack Lake, organised by Cornish Kelpie – Sarah Walsh, Inspirational Woman of the Year 2025 – with Children’s Sailing Trust as the beneficiary.

The event will feature swim distances ranging from 50m to 1500m, RNLI water safety sessions, live music, local food and stalls from Cornish small businesses. It is sponsored by Dryrobe, with headline speaker Professor Mike Tipton from the University of Portsmouth. Both the Morholan Sauna & Wild Spa and Trevassack Lake Café will be open throughout the day.

About Children’s Sailing Trust and Falmouth Harbour

Children’s Sailing Trust operates from its fully accessible Trevassack Lake HQ, offering adapted facilities and equipment for people with disabilities. Its school sailing programme continues on the Helford River, where it has run for nearly 30 years.

Funds raised from events like the Cornwall Swim Festival support the Trust’s inclusive sailing and watersports programmes for schools and families across Cornwall.

Falmouth Harbour is a statutory port authority responsible for the Inner Harbour at Falmouth, the Penryn River, Carrick Roads, and parts of Falmouth Bay, providing pilotage services across several locations including Truro, Penryn, St Mawes, and the Helford River.

📷New Buoys - Children’s Sailing Trust Chair James Staughton, Activities Manager Rupert Whelan & Falmouth Harbour CEO Miles Carden at the Children’s Sailing Trust’s Trevassack Lake. Photo Credit: Falmouth Harbour