Geovanni Hayward tells a true story that illustrates just why he has set up a new sailing charity.

Hayward describes a child from the East End that comes through the Endeavour programme. At the start he doesn’t know the bow from the stern, but he works hard, takes to it naturally and makes real progress. The coaches, Hayward among them, fight to get him into a sailing club so he can carry on, but a few months pass and the boy is gone.

“There are so many children like that,” says Hayward, 27. “They love it and they get into clubs, they do a few after-school programmes, but after a few months they’re just gone and they don’t come back.

“So many children leave the Endeavour programme, get a taste of what’s out there and then just stop. It’s heartbreaking when you see it because you know what they’re walking away from and you know what the sport could have given them.”

It is a pattern that has driven Hayward to launch the Prodigy Sailing Foundation, a charity backed by the Bermuda Sailing Association, which is designed to dismantle the financial walls that have kept many local children from ever finding their sea legs.

The charity officially launched at the end of January and already the sailing community is getting behind it.

“The whole idea is to break down the barriers that stop children from progressing through the sport,” Hayward said.

“Sailing is expensive and people don’t always appreciate just how expensive it gets when a kid wants to sign up for after-school programmes and get into progression pathways.

“It becomes costly very quickly and some families just can’t always sustain it. Our goal is to create affordable, year-round programmes, so that once a kid gets a taste of sailing they’ve actually got somewhere to go and a path forward that doesn’t depend on whether their parents can find the money that week.”

The principle may be simple but Hayward has spent the better part of a decade on solving the problem. He coached at Endeavour for years, becoming manager and taking charge of the graduate programme.

“What Endeavour does is incredible — they provide the access, they give children their first real experience of the sport and for a lot of children that’s life-changing,” Hayward said.

“But the problem is they can only take you so far. After a year, if you want to continue, you’ve got to go to a club and that's where it gets difficult because suddenly there are costs involved that weren’t there before and the capacity isn’t there in the same way.

“Kids who were thriving just a few months earlier start to drift away. I’ve seen it over and over again. You work with a kid for months, you watch them grow in confidence, you can see they’ve got something, and then they’re gone. It’s not because they lost interest but because the system didn’t make it easy enough for them to stay.”

Hayward knows exactly what young sailors go through and the difficulties they and their families encounter when faced with rising costs.

“My dad had a Comet and he used to take me out sailing when I was small, and I just fell in love with it immediately,” he said.

“I just loved it, so I begged him to sign me up for proper lessons, but my parents really struggled to afford the prices. It wasn’t straightforward for them at all.

“I got really lucky and one of Royal Bermuda Yacht Club members took an interest and sponsored me, which meant I could carry on. Without that one person stepping in, I could easily have been one of those children who drops out. I could have been the kid in the story I just told you.

“That's what I'm trying to do with this charity — I’m trying to be that person for more children because I know what it meant to me to have someone believe in the sport enough to invest in me, and I want more children on this island to have that same chance.”

The sailing community has responded with an enthusiasm that has, by his own admission, surpassed expectations. The BSA's backing has lent the foundation credibility and it has helped with funding, advice and connections.

The next charity milestone is a community sailing day on June 21 at the East End Mini Yacht Club, which will feature taster sessions free of charge and open to everyone. Hayward is hoping that the children who turn up might feel exactly the same way he did when his father first took him out in a Comet.

“We just want to get out there,” he said. “We want people to see what we’re about, we want children on the water and we want to show Bermuda that this is possible. It will be free as we want to make absolutely sure that cost is not a reason for anyone to stay away. That's the whole point of what we’re doing. Nobody should miss out on this sport because of money.

“I nearly did and I've spent ten years watching others go through the same thing. That's enough and it’s time to change it.”

• Donations and further information are available at ptix.bm or by e-mailing info@prodigy.bm. The Prodigy Sailing Foundation community sailing day takes place on June 21 at the East End Mini Yacht Club. Entry is free