Disabled sports group sails towards fund-raising target

A £500,000 boathouse for disabled sailors is nearing completion. Rudyard Lake-based Sailability needs to raise £90,000 to finish work on the long-awaited store. It will be a dream come true for the charity, which fought a long-running fight for planning permission for the boathouse. The building work has been done by volunteers, who overcame disabilities to help out. They formed a human chain to tile the roof with 14,000 Welsh slates. The scaffolding will come down after the finishing touches have been put to the exterior and a footpath will then be re-instated. Work started in October and the charity hopes it will open by May. Secretary Jackie Griffiths said: "It has been a triumph over adversity. "When we started, we needed just shy of £500,000, and now we are looking for the last £90,000. "We are so tantalisingly close. It is fantastic. We are so indebted to so many organisations and our hard working volunteers. "It has been very moving. In spite of some volunteers being disabled, they have braved the weather to keep the show moving. It has been amazing. "We are now looking forward to the day when it will be finished and we can once again offer gold standard sailing." Members missed out on sailing last year and several of them also saw their hopes of taking part in this year's Paralympics dashed. It came after the charity was refused permission for a temporary base on the lake, which is managed by Rudyard Lake Ltd.