A Donegal mother and son have sailed from Poole in England to Dublin in aid of Spinal Injuries Ireland.
Victoria Matthews, an accessibility activist from Ballyshannon and ATU Sligo Sport with Business student, was one of the crew members alongside her son Luca, a BA in Culinary Arts student on the Killybegs campus.
Victoria works on key campaigns to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in Ireland and is a founding member and chair of ATU Sligo Disability and Inclusion Sports Club.
Her and Luca joined the SV Tenacious Forward Watch Tall Ship crew, consisting of eight people with a spinal cord injury, their assistants and people from all backgrounds and abilities.
They left Poole’s port town on the South Coast of England this June and veered towards Jersey and the north coast of France to sail into Dublin, as part of the Spinal Injuries Ireland Tall Ship Challenge.
The group managed to raise over a whopping €80,000 in funds for supports and services to help people with life-changing injuries.
Victoria said that she fell in love with sailing since learning about navigating the ship and keeping logs, including wind speed, course details, and wet and dry temperatures, and is looking forward to her next adventure.
“I felt part of the voyage crew from the beginning,” she said.
“Every person had a role, was an equal team member and contributed to the success of the voyage.
“There was a great atmosphere of inclusion throughout, where abilities were seen, and everyone had important roles to fulfil.”
The Tenacious is the only wheelchair-accessible ship of its kind and was fully accessible from bathrooms to lifts from upper mess to lower mess and accommodation, lifts from the main deck to upper decks. It is also accessible to the visually impaired.
