A £1.5 MILLION donation looks set to turn UKSA's dreams of a new look into reality.

The massive gift, which will enable UKSA to build a new accommodation centre and reception, is the largest single amount ever received by the charity.

It has been gifted by The TK Foundation — a Bahamas based foundation that supports non-profit and youth programmes across the globe.

The building will house 128 students in separate, modular units to give security to different gender and age groupings.

There will also be a new centre reception and meeting rooms.

UKSA’s chair, Kevin George, said: “The whole team at UKSA is thrilled to be in receipt of such a generous donation. The amount is very significant because we can now press forward with our desire to build new, modular accommodation on our site.

"This will substantially increase the number of people accessing and benefitting from UKSA’s transformative programmes.”

"The new accommodation will reinforce the organisation’s commitment to continue growing its impact on the life skills and career prospects of young people through increasing our capacity to support many more young people .

"UKSA delivers maritime activities and training programmes that have a positive and lasting impact on young people’s academic, health and sporting abilities.

"The creation of tangible pathways inspires young people to broaden their horizons, leading to continuous employment in the maritime sector. The new accommodation is an urgent requirement, as the demand for places at UKSA continues to grow year on year."

Dennis Treleaven, maritime program officer at The TK Foundation, said: “We have long supported the work UKSA undertakes and recognise the important value its programmes add to the lives of the thousands of people passing through their doors each year.

"The TK Foundation actively supports youth and maritime programmes that offer a hand up, not a handout, and that create a lasting impact, especially in terms of maritime employment opportunities, and we consider UKSA’s work to be an embodiment of these values.”

UKSA’s CEO, Ben Willows, said: “Students staying with us will benefit from an improved experience, with configurable zones providing more flexible arrangements for all, alongside improved safeguarding and better disabled access.

"The new facilities will unlock the potential to train more professional students as they progress their careers with UKSA’s ongoing training and development programmes.”

Ben added: “In the last year, we welcomed more than 10,000 students thanks to our recognition as the world’s premier maritime training provider.

"It is the natural progression to improve our facilities to ensure we retain our position as a centre of excellence.”

The UKSA site will remain fully operational throughout the development works, with building work commencing in the latter part of 2020 and completion of the works planned for mid-2022.

UKSA has appointed Newport-based multidisciplinary consultancy ERMC to provide procurement and project support.

Ben concluded: “This is a significant point in the history of UKSA and we are extremely grateful to the team at The TK Foundation.

"We will continue to seek further funding to ensure we can continue to launch as many careers as possible and create a journey of inspiration for the lives of young people. Our plans are unashamedly ambitious as we drive the organisation forward into the next decade.”