Appeal launched to help The Grand Old Lady of Bridlington Harbour.
Owners of one of Bridlington’s premier tourist attractions have put out an heartfelt appeal
to help raise funds to get back up and running for the new year.
Affectionately known as the ‘Grand Old Lady of Bridlington Harbour’ the Yorkshire Belle has taken hundreds and thousands of locals and holidaymakers on pleasure cruises along the wonderful East Yorkshire coastline.
After decades of providing wonderful memories, the Richardson family who own and crew the boat, had to make the tough decision to cease all sailings in March after the Coronavirus lockdown…and then distancing guidelines made future sailings unviable.
In a statement , the Richardsons said: “We’re sorry to announce that due to COVID-19 the Yorkshire Belle is at risk. We are trying everything we can to get the boat back up and running for next year but we need help.”
“We stand by the decision we made not to work this year due to the pandemic as it would not have been the right thing to do morally or financially. The additional costs it would have taken to get her ready to sail in a fully COVID compliant manner, coupled with only being able to run at around a quarter of her full capacity, with fuel and crew wages to pay, and only a limited number of months left in the season to put away much needed reserves on top of this, would have been impossible. Plus, we feel passenger experience and comfort would have been impacted.”
Anyone who wishes to donate are urged to click though to the Yorkshire Bele
Page which fully explains the reasons behind this appeal for help and to donate.
“Anything you can donate would be appreciated more than you could ever know…Thank you in advance.Peter, Alison, Sam and Jodie.”
Yorkshire Belle crew have set up a GoFundMe page for anyone that may be more comfortable donating there. We will update the total with donations already received. https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-our-belle
https://www.yorkshire-belle.co.uk/#/appeal/
Pictures by Trevor Hedges.
