High demand for trips out to sea on Yorkshire Coast by charity Wetwheels

Wetwheels Yorkshire, which helps those with physical and mental disabilities on the Yorkshire Coast, says demand for their trips are high.

Author: Karen LiuPublished 4th May 2021

A charity which helps those with physical and mental disabilities on the Yorkshire Coast says people are desperate to be outside again.

Wetwheels Yorkshire offers trips at sea on a specially-designed catamaran and they are almost fully booked for this summer.

It started operating again earlier this month as the charity is classed as an outdoor sporting activity.

Peter Richardson, Chairman of Wetwheels Yorkshire, said:

"Our calendar for this summer is like we've never seen before. People are desperate to get back outside and do the things that they want to do and Wetwheels is pretty high at the top of the list for some people. We are almost fully booked for the summer period.

"We did have some limited trips run last year with smaller numbers of people on board and the feedback from that was wholly positive. Going from four walls to the open ocean is about an extreme and an experience as you can get, and the thought of doing that again this summer for so many people is just amazing.

"It's been extreme and you've got to remember that a lot of the people and a lot of the families that we work with have been shielding. Their families contain individuals that are very vulnerable and it puts a great deal in Wetwheels Yorkshire and what we've put in place to make sure people are safe.

"It's sad that we can't allow people to access the helm and drive the boat currently but the feedback has often been teary eyed, just the relief of being able to get back outside and some of the people that we work with, next year sadly isn't an option so we need to do what we can as long as we can do it safely."

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