A £1 MILLION emergency appeal for a Southampton sailing charity has almost reached its target to raise enough money to keep itself above the waters.

When the Daily Echo went to press, The Jubilee Sailing Trust (JST) had raised at least £932,000 towards its goal since setting up a fundraising page last week.

As previously reported by the Echo, if unable to reach the £1m target by the end of the week it would “cease to exist immediately”, unless another solution was found.

The deadline for donations was due at 6pm on Friday evening, and the charity have been “celebrating the major fundraising milestones as they arose” since they began their pledge to survival.

Amongst their support has involved volunteers and celebrities from all over the world, including Peter Snow CBE who has praised the charity’s work in the past.

It owns the Lord Nelson and Tenacious ships, which are two specially adapted traditionally-rigged sailing ships, and are the only ships in the world designed to be sailed by a crew with a variety of physical impairments and health conditions.

Senior Manager of The Jubilee Sailing Trust Andy Spark said: “Following a motor cycle accident in which I lost my leg at 20 years old, I felt bitter about my disability and felt as if my life was over.

“Just one 10 day voyage onboard our ship STS Lord Nelson showed me that not only could I do the same as everyone else, but that I had a long and exciting life ahead of me in spite of my disability.

He added: “We have had over 3,000 donations, both large and small, from individuals and companies, which is fantastic, and our phone lines have been very busy.”

CEO Duncan Souster said: “We have all been heartened by the messages of support from people across the world, along with the generous donations everyone has made.

“It is wonderful to see the number of lives we have positively impacted during our four decades on the water. Over the past few days, we have heard your passion for our cause.

“We have also listened to concerns, quite understandably, about the sustainability of our business model and questions about whether this fundraising effort can provide greater long-term security for JST.”

Based in Woolston, the JST has been struggling financially for the past year following multiple mechanical problems on both of its ships.