A disabled teenager is to take part in a sailing adventure aboard a tall ship, the Lord Nelson.

Naomi Sills, of Glen View, Harden, will join 40 others for the voyage which sails from Kings Lynn in Norfolk to Amsterdam in Holland and then on to Newcastle from May 10-15. While on board she will be part of one of four watches who help man the ship 24 hours a day.

The 19-year-old has cerebral palsy. She has to use a wheelchair when she goes out and can only walk with the aid of tripod sticks. She is also partially sighted and decided she would like to go on the specially adapted ship after hearing about it through the Barnardo's organisation.

"I'm a bit scared but I'm really looking forward to it," says Naomi, who is doing a life skills course at Henshaws College in Harrogate.

The Lord Nelson is owned and operated by the Jubilee Sailing Trust, a national registered charity set up in 1978. The aim is to integrate able-bodied and physically disabled people through the medium of tall ship sailing.

The Lord Nelson is a 490-ton, 18-sail, square rigger which has been purpose-built to enable all crew members to take a full and equal part in helping to sail the ship.

Naomi has been sponsored by Bingley Round Table but Anne has to find £400 to pay for the trip. To raise funds the pair are to do a sponsored wheelchair push at Bolton Abbey on Sunday, April 19. Anne will push Naomi from the Abbey to the Strid and back again.

Anyone wishing to sponsor them or who wants to help in any other way should ring Anne during the day on 651253.

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