17 year old Sophie is from Southsea and got involved with The Raymarine Lively Lady Project through working with the Meridian Trust Association.

For her, working with the project has been all about learning how to work as part of a team and understanding the commitment required to be part of a project such as this. She has also come to realise how important communication is to making everything work.

She’s been very busy over the last year fundraising for the project and that's been a fantastic learning curve. She's had to get to grips with the amount of organisation required to arrange events and has lost count of the number of cars she's washed and cakes she's baked (the members of Portsmouth Joggers demand a regular weekly supply!). Sophie has also been one of the team that has been speaking at the Rotary and Lion’s Club events, together with the co-skippers, helping to raise money there. She loves the project and has great support from her family and friends and this has made all the difference as turns fundraisers into real social events as well as raising a lot of money.

Sophie is now coming to the end of her A-levels at Portsmouth College and has taken her camera with her on this leg in the hope of getting some good photos for her A-level portfolio. She has already been accepted at Portsmouth University to do an Art & Photography Foundation Course, after which she plans to do a degree in Marine Photography. She's planning on carrying on with sailing too and is starting as she means to continue – she’s already been helping with the sailing programme for the Special Olympics. Through all of this she feels she's gained a solid foundation to build on. She said, 
"working with the project has given me lots of new skills for the future. It's an experience of a lifetime".