Musto is extending its long-standing partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust for a further five years, continuing a relationship that stretches back to Dame Ellen MacArthur’s record-breaking round-the-world sailing career. The British heritage brand has served as the charity’s official clothing supplier since it launched in 2003.
The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust is a national charity that takes young people aged 8 to 24 on sailing and outdoor adventures from bases in East Cowes on the Isle of Wight and Largs on Scotland’s west coast, inspiring them to believe in a brighter future living through and beyond cancer. Musto equips every young person taking part, alongside the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust’s volunteers and skippers, with essential sailing and sun-protective gear, including UPF 50 long-sleeved t-shirts, caps, waterproofs, and salopettes.
Skin cancer is a common secondary risk for young people who have undergone cancer treatments such as radiation or chemotherapy, making sun protection even more vital. Thanks to Musto’s kit, young people on Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust adventures are kept safe and dry, allowing them to focus on fun and rediscovering their independence.
Since launching a design competition in 2018, Musto has also provided custom long-sleeve tees for every young person on an Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust trip which feature a new design created by a young person on the trips. So, as well as keeping everyone sun-safe, they represent a personal story summing up what the charity means to the artist.
“Everyone at Musto loves to see the creativity that goes into the t-shirt design competition and it’s an incredibly special legacy for the next year’s attendees,” said Nick Houchin, Marketing Director, Musto. “This renewal builds on a long history between Musto and Ellen personally, and with the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust itself, and we are so pleased to see it continue for five more years.”
Musto also supplies the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust with kit from its BR2 Offshore range, developed for the demands of ocean sailing and built to handle everything the British weather can throw at a crew on the water. The waterproof, breathable jackets and trousers are designed to keep sailors dry and comfortable through long days afloat, whatever the conditions.
For the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust trips, that reliability matters: young people, volunteers, and skippers are out on the water together for hours at a time, so the charity prioritises safety, and having kit that stands up to repeated use trip after trip means the focus can stay on the adventure itself.
Since 2003, almost 4,000 young people have been supported by the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust. Using the academically robust Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, the charity measures its outcomes and impacts to prove and improve what it does. Of those who have completed the surveys, 73% of young people show improvement in their mental wellbeing two weeks after their trip.
Young people like Sara, who had stage four acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a type of aggressive blood cancer, as a teenager. She first sailed with the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust in 2018 after the end of her treatment. Now 26, this summer she has returned as a volunteer to ‘give back’ and be there for young people like the charity was there for her.
Sara said: “It’s been the best part of my life every single time I’ve been with the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust. When you are unwell, there are so many things you aren’t able to do, even in everyday situations like work and day-to-day life. Sailing with the charity, you feel so free, you have so much independence.
“Everyone is quite literally in the same boat. The only other time I’d met young people with cancer was on the ward when you’re all just sick, and that was horrible. So it’s nice to see everybody in recovery and enjoying life together. Being with the charity feels like home even after just one day.
“I started volunteering because I just wanted to give back and help more people experience what I experienced. I keep thinking of how I felt as a young person and try to make them feel exactly the same way: encouraged and like they can do anything they want, because that’s how I was made to feel. No limits.”
Frank Fletcher, Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust CEO, said: “The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust – and Dame Ellen MacArthur herself – shares its history with Musto. By the end of this summer, we will have enabled 4,000 young people living through and beyond cancer to safely take part in our sailing and outdoor adventures and believe in their brighter future. We are delighted this partnership is continuing and look forward to countless more young people benefiting from Musto’s support.”
The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust is there for anyone looking for support, no matter how long off treatment they are. Visit ellenmacarthurcancertrust.org or follow @emctrust on social media.
