Solent Platinum Jubilee raises £12,000 for Wetwheels
Sailing charity Wetwheels Foundation has confirmed that the recent Solent Platinum Jubilee celebrations in August have helped raise £12,000, which will all be used to help more disabled people access the water.
Wetwheels was the chosen charity for the Jubilee Year celebrations on 6 August, which were one of the biggest the Solent has seen in a long while.
A committee of sailing organisations, class associations and clubs from across the Solent region organised the successful event, which immediately followed this year’s Cowes Week. The event was supported by leading yacht and motorboat insurer Pantaenius UK.
Alongside an awe-inspiring Fleet Review with five Wetwheels boats and hundreds from across the UK and the globe, another highlight of the celebrations was a ‘Lunch on the Terrace’.
The charity welcomed guests from the local community as well as many from further afield, to share in this unique occasion at Cowes Yacht Haven.
Geoff Holt MBE DL, Wetwheels’ founder and trustee, says: “This truly was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and seeing so many of our supporters from across the years and those new to Wetwheels was wonderful.”
Mike Wimbridge, managing director of Pantaenius UK adds: “Supporting Wetwheels for The Solent Platinum Jubilee Celebration and seeing the fleet together was an amazing spectacle, and being on a Wetwheels boat was extra special. Access to boating should be barrier-free, and we are pleased to reaffirm our partnership with The Wetwheels Foundation.”
Wetwheels helps 6,000 disabled people a year access the open water. The organisation recently held its first ‘barrier-free’ boating weekend, and aims to place four new boats by 2025/26.
