The latest Wheelyboat E-Newsletter

Welcome to our latest E-Newsletter highlighting our work over the spring and early summer. Here is a taste of what we've achieved, including news of launches and of our new projects. The stunning photograph comes from the North Norfolk Wheelyboat named 'Poppy' as they start their busy season ahead. Good luck to Poppy's team this year! To subscribe to our E-Newsletter please email pe@wheelyboats.org.

Last year saw four new Wheelyboats launched in Manchester, Dorset, the Lake District and on the River Thames. These boats have provided for disabled accessible boating facilities for a range of individuals and groups, including supporting dementia, hospice and fostering groups of people. Each boat supports over 250 people a year and will be out throughout the spring, summer and autumn months - they can go out on as many as 100 individual trips a year!

Already this year we have placed orders for new boats for Rochdale, Kent and Suffolk and these are due to be out on the water by the end of the summer. We are fundraising hard for projects in Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Sussex, with others including in Scotland and Northern Ireland. We know that there are disabled people waiting to use the new boats that we supply and we work hard to meet this ever growing need.

A fully accessible Wheelyboat gives all people, irrespective of disability, the same opportunities of experiencing water sports and outdoor activities, especially in terms of reducing isolation and anxiety and improving wellbeing and the impact on both mental and physical health. Wheelyboats provide isolated disabled people with an opportunity to get outside and actively participate in healthy life-enhancing activities on the water.

We must raise valuable funds each month to meet our unavoidable core costs and maximise the opportunities ahead for disabled people. Each new boat can cost up to £60,000 to supply, without our support the boats would largely be unaffordable for the charitable groups that we work with. Please keep supporting us if you can!

New Projects

We are delighted to be fundraising for a number of new projects this year. These include for the Anderton Centre in Manchester, where demand is outstripping supply for the current Wheelyboat, in Derbyshire and Rye on the south coast.

Thank you!

We don't send our newsletters out too often, so we hope you enjoyed this one. This newsletter is a good opportunity to thank our many donors and supporters for their kindness in supporting the Trust. We can't do it without you and are very grateful for the support you give. To discuss supporting The Wheelyboat Trust please contact Paul at pe@wheelyboats.org.