People with disabilities visiting the Paralympic Games will have the chance to stay aboard the Bedwyn-based canal boat The Diana which will be moored near the Olympic Stadium. She’s one of the Bruce Trusts four specially adapted, purpose-built canal boats which normally give canal holidays for people with a wide range of disabilities.
The boat will be providing accommodation for visitors from all over the country. But first The Diana will have to get there. On Saturday (August 18) she will set off on the eighty-two mile journey from Bedwyn wharf to Stratford East.
Among those at Bedwyn wharf to see her start her unique journey at 11.30 a.m. will be the Chair of Wiltshire Council, Christine Crisp, and Marlborough’s Mayor Edwina Fogg, who is a Patron of East Wiltshire Mencap. During the voyage Rotary Clubs along the Kennet and Avon Canal will be crewing the boat and providing day trips to local groups of people with special needs.
The Diana, named in memory of the late Princess of Wales, is scheduled to arrive on her mooring, as near to the Olympic Stadium as security will allow, in time for the Paralympics’ Opening Ceremony on Wednesday, August 29. Bruce Trust volunteers will man her throughout the Games and a wide range of charities for disabled people have been invited to apply for low cost accommodation and entry tickets to the Paralympics.
Charges will be just £25 a night per person and The Diana can accommodate up to ten people including carers each night.
The Trust’s founder, David Bruce, explained: “This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to not only attend the Paralympics but also to stay on one of our special boats in a unique location. The Diana is fully equipped and accessible for disabled visitors and we are only a few minutes wheelchair ride away from the main Olympic Stadium.”
The Bruce Trust was set up as a registered charity twenty-four years ago following the sale of Bruce’s Brewery and the Firkin Pubs. It has enabled 13,500 disabled people to enjoy a safe canal boat holiday.
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