Olivia Inspires: The charity providing life-changing opportunities in memory of Hampshire sailor

  • Olivia Burt's father has been speaking to ITV News Meridian reporter Chlöe Oliver about how the charity allows his daughter's legacy to live on

The father of a university student from the New Forest killed when a nightclub barrier fell on her has told ITV News Meridian how the ongoing work of the charity created in her honour helps to keep her memory alive.

The charity Olivia Inspires is already making a difference to the lives of hundreds of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds with sailing experiences taking place this month.

The foundation has awarded grants to help young people develop their potential at a time when, in many cases, their education is falling behind.

Olivia Burt was a member of the British Sailing Team

Olivia Burt, from Milford-On-Sea, was 20 years old in her first year of Durham university when her life was cut short.

She was killed when a barrier came down on top of her outside the Missola nightclub in Durham in February 2018. She suffered severe head injuries and died.

Her death was said to be "senseless and avoidable" by prosecutors as the screen had already fallen half an hour before it crushed her, but had been put back in place.

Last July, pub chain Stonegate was found guilty of a health and safety breach, fined £1.56m and ordered to pay £225,774 in costs.

Olivia was head girl at Bournemouth School for Girls and a member of the British Sailing Team.

In her memory, her parents created a charity to fund 5-day trips on the water so other young people could get to experience the joy Olivia felt when out on the water.

  • Olivia's father, Nigel, says Olivia worked tirelessly from the age of five years old to sail and hopes his daughter would be proud of their efforts to help hundreds of local children

Some of the students from Testwood School in Southampton onboard the boat last week had their places on the 5-day trip funded by Olivia Inspires.

This week another group from another school in the New Forest district has taken to the water, with help from the charity together with the Rona Sailing Project.

The Project is a registered charity and a volunteer-based Sail Training Organisation, which provides opportunities for adults and young people with special needs including hearing loss, visual impairment, recovery from addiction, learning difficulties, chronic or serious illness.

Olivia Burt with her mother, father and their family pet Credit: Burt family

Her father says after losing Olivia in the cruelest way possible, the ongoing work of the charity helps him and his wife navigate the grief of losing their daughter.

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