Sir Ben and Lady Ainslie appointed Ocean Ambassadors

As Ocean Ambassadors, Ben and Georgie will work with the National Marine Aquarium (NMA) to connect young people and their families with the ocean and promote pro-ocean behaviour.

The most successful Olympic sailor of all time, Ben has won medals at five consecutive Olympics. Ben and Georgie join the NMA in its concern that in the UK young people can go through their entire school life without learning about topics relating to the ocean, despite the ocean representing the largest living space on the planet and being essential for the survival of all of us. The NMA hopes to see marine elements added to the National Curriculum in the future and implores the Department for Education and other statutory bodies to look at ways of supporting teachers to deliver these.

Whilst in Plymouth, Ben and Georgie’s first duty as Ocean Ambassadors was to visit a local school with the NMA’s Outreach Team. The National Marine Aquarium has set itself a target of reaching one million school children and young families a year, within the next five years, and Ben and Georgie will play an important role in helping to achieve this goal.

Roger Maslin, CEO of the National Marine Aquarium, commented: “Ben and his family will be a great addition to our growing team of Ocean Ambassadors, setting a positive example for young families across the UK. Ben has an incredibly strong connection with our Oceans, which makes him a great advocate for encouraging our visitors and supporters to get involved with solving some of the issues facing our blue planet.”

Ben added: “As a family, we are excited to be supporting the National Marine Aquarium. We spend much of our time out on the water, so really understand the importance of looking after the Oceans. My experience of sailing has allowed me to see first-hand some of the unfortunate effects we have on our Ocean, so we want to help inspire pro-Ocean habits in other families. By supporting the NMA’s excellent Discovery and Learning programme, we also aim to inspire tomorrow’s leaders to protect our Oceans and promote the message of Ocean health and sustainability.”

Find out more about NMA’s outreach sessions here: http://www.national-aquarium.co.uk/education/nma-outreach/