DAME Design Awards charity

Every year, the DAME Design Awards' total registration fees are contributed to a designated charity, serving as the Metstrade community's gesture of giving back to society. The Metstrade Exhibition Committee carefully chooses a charity to receive these funds annually, which may include a single charity or two different ones. 

In 2025, it has been decided by the Metstrade Exhibition Committee that the proceeds from the DAME Design Awards will be donated to The Ocean Conservation Trust, a global charity that exists to protect and restore the Ocean.

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2025 Charity: The Ocean Conservation Trust

The Ocean Conservation Trust is a global charity that exists to protect and restore the Ocean. Our work is centred around harnessing the collective power of people and encouraging positive action through pro-ocean behaviour and habitat restoration. The vision is a world where the Ocean is thriving, healthy, and sustainably protected for generations to come. Working across three core pillars– Ocean Advocacy, Ocean Habitats and Ocean Experiences, our team invests time, skills and passion into projects that increase biodiversity and combat climate change to protect the Ocean. We work tirelessly to inspire positive change amongst individuals, communities, businesses, and policymakers alike.

The OCT’s flagship Ocean Habitats programme, Blue Meadows, takes a holistic approach to seagrass protection, regeneration, and restoration at scale. Seagrass, one of the planet’s most ecologically valuable habitats, has sadly declined up to 90% globally due to human impact. Our goal is to protect the seagrass we already have, and over the longer-term restore the seagrass we have lost, by creating a global blueprint for large-scale restoration.

Dame cheque - 720 x 400 - website

Dame charities over the years (2008-2024)

2024: SailWise

2023: The Magenta Project

2022: World Sailing Trust

2021: Blue Marine Foundation - To Protect Our Ocean

2019: Sailing4Handicaps & The Little Optimist

2018: The Blue Marine Foundation & Wetwheels Foundation

2017: Sailing Kids & VOKK

2016: AMREF Flying Doctors*

2015: Sailability

2014: AMREF Flying Doctors*

2013: Sailability & Freedom Waters

2012: AMREF Flying Doctors*

2011: Stichting Sailing Kids

2010: Whisper Boat Building Academy

2009: AMREF Flying Doctors 2008: International Federation of Disabled Sailing (IFDS)

* From 2012 to 2016, AMREF Flying Doctors, the international charity supported by RAI Amsterdam - received the DAME donation every other year.