SOAP stars will find themselves batting for a local charity as a hydrotherapy pool appeal draws to a successful conclusion.
Actors from Emmerdale and Coronation Street will play Crakehall Cricket Club on August 9 to raise money for The Dales School.
The school, at Morton-on-Swale, near Northallerton, provides specialist co-education to 50 students aged two to 19 from across the region.
For the past 27 years it has been the only facility outside of the James Cook Hospital, Middlesbrough, to offer the community a hydrotherapy pool.
But the key facility is now in desperate need of refurbishment so the school can continue its invaluable work.
Friends of The Dales School launched a £60,000 appeal to restore the pool and have reached the £50,000 mark.
Tenders are about to go out to secure a contractor and work should start in the summer holidays.
For the past 18 months the appeal has been headed by a globe-trotting mascot called Hydro Duck.
So far he has been spreading the world around the country and to far-flung places such as Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Abu Dhabi, Norway, Egypt and across Europe.
The original pool was open 26 years ago by Olympic swimmer Adrian Moorhouse and footballer Bryan Robson. It replaced a facility lost with the closure of St John of God’s Hospital at Scorton.
Since then it has brought much needed relief to countless students many of who have undergone surgery or live with poor circulation. The new pool will have better access including a ramp and hoist.
Assistant head teacher Anne Baker said: “The appeal has mobilised the whole community, from the local ladies golf club to other schools and WIs. The response has been absolutely amazing.
“People have been sending us pictures of Hydro Duck from around the world. One minute he is on the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, the next at the pyramids. We were evens sent a picture of him with Peter Andre in London. So many people have had such good fun with him.”
For more information on the appeal and how to help contact annebaker@thedalesschool.org or visit the website at www.thedalesschool.org.
