About The Skylark IX Recovery Trust
The Skylark IX Recovery Trust cares for a ‘Dunkirk Little Ship’ that saved lives during Operation Dynamo in 1940, and was herself later saved from a watery grave at Loch Lomond in 2012. Today, as a symbol of recovery and resilience, Skylark IX sits at the heart of the Trust's projects inspiring people to make positive changes to their lives and communities.
In 2018 the Trust was awarded a grant of £404,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF). This enabled the Trust to plan vital work to help stabilise Skylark’s condition, deliver boatbuilding training for Alternatives Community-based Recovery Service and Dumbarton Area Council on Alcohol clients, and therapeutic arts and heritage projects for people across the community.
Skylark IX
A wooden vessel of carvel construction, Skylark IX was built by J Bolson of Poole in 1929 as a motor cruiser. During the Second World War she served as a shallow water minesweeper in Poole harbour and was engaged in placing anti invasion obstacles around the harbour. She also took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, and is credited with saving the lives of 600 men. After the war the vessel gradually worked her way north via Morecambe and Burnt Island to Loch Lomond, where she operated as a trip boat for 30 years. Eventually she was replaced, sold privately and fell into disrepair, until in 2010 she sank at her moorings. In October 2012, Skylark IX was re-floated and funds were raised to lift her out of the water and into storage so she could be restored.
Spirit of Skylark Centre
Skylark IX is currently in the care of the Scottish Maritime Museum (SMM) in Irvine whilst the Skylark IX Recovery Trust shapes plans for her future at the heart of the new Spirit of Skylark Centre. Funding allowing, this proposed £3m heritage attraction, community hub and boatbuilding workshop will be located at the Scottish Maritime Museum’s second site in Dumbarton, and ensure a bright future for Skylark and the community projects, such as skiff building, she makes possible.
Other projects
Another key aim for the conservation project is to build skills and employability opportunities for the wider community, in particular for people recovering from addiction or facing social isolation in West Dunbartonshire. They work closely with Alternatives Community Recovery Service in Dumbarton. This includes a St Ayles skiff building programme, teaching wood skills and boatbuilding in a specially set up workshop in the Scottish Maritime Museum’s Dumbarton based Denny Tank.
During 2021-2022, the Hope Floats exhibition was held at the Scottish Maritime Museum's two branches in Irvine and Dumbarton. Curated by the Trust, it charted Skylark’s story from launching as a pleasure boat in 1934 through her wartime service and sinking in 2010. The story culminated with her new role inspiring and changing the lives of people recovering from addictions, and also celebrated the achievements of the Skylark IX Recovery Trust project.
With the launch of its two new skiffs, the Trust are working hard to re-establish a Dumbarton Rowing Club. The town was once home to a successful club and hosted a number of high profile racing events, but interest began to decline around 1925. The sport has become increasingly popular over recent years and the Trust sees it as a fantastic way to engage local community members as well as provide Alternatives’ clients with activity which will form an integral part of their recovery programme through exercise, social engagement and team building.
In March 2023, the Trust unveiled the Skylark IX Community Tapestry, which was created as part of the nationwide Year of Stories, and was handcrafted by the Project’s ‘Skylark IX in Stitches’ group and members of the wider community. Over the 14 month mental health and well-being project, the stitchers, who were mostly total beginners, learned the traditional but fading life skills of hand stitching, embroidery and applique. The resulting tapestry, which was made mostly of recycled fabric, thread and yarn donated by the community and using wooden battens crafted by the Project’s Community Boatbuilders, brings Skylark’s spirit and her story of resilience and hope to life over 12 vibrant imagined scenes. Each stitcher also added their own personal stories and creative ideas to the visual storybook along with symbols of Dumbarton’s history. Hidden in each of the 12 panels also sits a small stitched heart representing the love people have for Skylark and the Project has for the community.
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