On 9^th October in Kelso, Chris Tarrant, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’s question master (and a passionate angler), and comedian, Mike Osman, hosted a gala charity auction and dinner in aid of Tweed Wheelyboats and organised by the Tweed Foundation.  The pair richly entertained the 250 diners and guests throughout the evening, skilfully relieving them of £20 notes at regular intervals.  A silent auction was held during dinner and the main live auction followed.  There were some extremely desirable lots on offer including a week in October 2008 fishing six of Tweed’s finest beats (a once in a lifetime opportunity).  Mike Osman proved an expert auctioneer and squeezed every ounce of value from each lot.  The six days on six beats went for £15,000! 

Nick Yonge (Director, Tweed Foundation), Mike Osman, Chris Tarrant

The Tweed Wheelyboat is a revolutionary new fishing boat developed by The Wheelyboat Trust in conjunction with J M Coulam Boatbuilders specifically for disabled anglers on large rivers like Tweed.  The first one, named Tweedability 1, was launched by Chris Tarrant in October 2006.  The aim of the auction and dinner was to raise funds to repay the boat’s development costs (funded by the Tweed Foundation), purchase two more boats for Tweed and endow The Wheelyboat Trust with funds to enable it to supply boats to other rivers.  The evening was a huge success and the money raised exceeded all expectations.

As a result of publicity for the auction and dinner, an extremely generous benefactor donated funds to enable the second Tweed Wheelyboat (Tweedability 2) to be built in advance of the dinner and it was formally launched on the famous Junction Pool in Kelso on 1^st October.  Ray Crompton, a wheelchair user, whose friend donated the funds with the needs of Ray in mind, was the first angler to use the boat and christened it by catching a salmon the following day.  He said ‘it is a fantastic boat and without it he simply could not get on the river’.  The boat’s unique design means that the boatman and angler, between the two of them, can board and disembark easily and safely.  This overcomes the major hurdle of access to the river for wheelchair users – the banks are steep and inaccessible, while the standard Tweed fishing boats are simply not built for wheelchair use.  The Tweed Wheelyboat’s success is in no small part due to the boatman who operate the boat and who find it so straightforward to row and control.    

Tweedability 3 will be launched in 2008.

To book aTweed Wheelyboat, contact the Tweed Foundation on 01896 848271 or visit their website www.tweedfoundation.org.uk/boats.