Splash-in puts Scuba Trust back on the road

A £5500 donation has been made to the Scuba Trust charity – and where better to hand over a large cheque than under water?

The sum was provided by charity the Hospital Saturday Fund (HSF), which assists health charities and medical bodies as well as individuals with medical conditions and disabilities.

Presenting the cheque to the Scuba Trust’s Chair of Trustees Eric Bellworthy was HSF Chief Executive Paul Jackson, a keen diver and also Chairman of the Manta Trust.

HSF Chairman John Greenwood also attended the event at Heathfield School, Ascot in Berkshire, where the Scuba Trust holds monthly try-dive events.

The donation is intended to help replace an “ailing van” used by the trust for transporting and storing equipment.

The Scuba Trust, which is dedicated to making diving accessible to people with disabilities, has been run entirely by volunteers for the past 20 years. It supports paraplegic, quadriplegic, visually impaired, deaf, autistic, amputee and other divers.

Trustee Amanda Ford, a diving instructor who spends her spare time volunteering for the Scuba Trust, explained to visitors at the handover event how scuba diving allowed people with extreme disabilities to experience the positive effects of weightlessness and freedom of movement.