'Time is running out' to save historic tall ship
BBCVolunteers working to save a last-of-its-kind tall ship have said it risks being dismantled if funds are not found for its repair.
The 126-year-old Kathleen and May is in Gloucester Docks and requires work to stabilise its structure before it can be taken to a dry dock for further repairs.
Tony Conder of the Kathleen and May Community Interest Company (CIC) said if it does not get the funds for the repairs this winter, the boat will likely be taken apart.
It is the last working three-masted, wooden hull topsail schooner and the only one of her class still operating.
The ship was designated as a national treasure by the Arts Council in 2011.
The CIC formed in 2024 and bought the ship for £1 with the aim of preserving the ship as a memorial to merchant sailors.
It ran a 100-day fundraising campaign last year, but Conder said it only raised approximately 1% of the funds needed.
"After that setback, we decided on a change of tactic and are now looking for funding from a different route and more volunteer input. We should know about that before Christmas and will then plan accordingly," he said.
The money raised has helped with day-to-day volunteer work to keep the project going, and Conder said the CIC hoped to welcome visitors during Heritage Open Days this month and raise money then.
"We've been talking to organisations like National Historic Ships, the Maritime Trust and the National Lottery. Everybody recognises that there's a project here, I just think we don't know how to do it yet," Conder added.
"Now that we've brought the boat into the charitable sector, we can develop all of these things that we want to do, and hopefully that will provide us with supporters."
When the ship came to Gloucester in 2021, she was given a life expectancy of five years by T. Nielsen shipyard if no money was spent on her restoration.
As the five-year mark approaches, the group's 25 volunteers are concerned about this potential loss to maritime heritage.
"It's a great educational asset," said volunteer Trevor. "Because you really get the feel for 19th-20th Century construction when you come on board.
"It's also constructed in a traditional way, which I feel is important because we tend to forget that we are a seafaring nation. "
Another volunteer, Eileen, said: "We feel like there's a lot of attention paid to naval ships and not enough to ordinary ships, and she was a typical ship of her kind at the time.
"These ordinary ships aren't preserved, and we think it's dreadful because people can't see what used to keep trade flowing. We're an island nation, and we need to show our maritime heritage, not just in naval ships"
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