A ship designed and built to enable people of all physical abilities to sail alongside together as equals will leave on its first ever round-the-world trip in October.

This month its sister ship Tenacious, which has recently returned from a voyage with a crew of young disabled and able-bodied German students, sailed into the Docklands in time for the Paralympics – and EastLondonLines talked to the crew.

The ships, both built and operated by the Jubilee Sailing Trust, are the only two tall ships in the world built for both disabled and able-bodied crews.

The nautical event was also attended by Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman.

Tour guides joined by Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman. Pic: Emma Marvin

Each voyage on Tenacious carries around 50 people. Eight are permanent crew, forty are voyage crew and twenty of those are disabled. The vessel can carry up to eight wheelchair users.

Each person has a role to play, whether it’s sail handling, navigation, keeping a look, maintenance, scrubbing the decks or galley duty.

Terry White. Pic: Emma Marvin

Ship tour guide Terry White, 59, is blind and has sailed on both the Lord Nelson and the Tenacious in his 20 years of volunteering for the JST.

White said his first experience of sailing was “fantastic”, letting him make new friends and meet people from entirely different walks of life. He said: “I found I could do things that I never dreamt I would be able to do.”

His biggest challenge, apart from avoiding seasickness, he joked, was dealing with heights. “Although I’m blind, I can still sense the height when I’m climbing the rigging. On a couple of occasions, I had to stop and hold on tight. I’m not really good with heights.”

When he  had his first sailing experience on the Lord Nelson, he still had part of his sight. But, he said, since then, he’s had to “start again”.

He said: “Although I completely lost my sight, I found that with sailing, I could still do it. Losing my sight didn’t stop me from continuing and enjoying it.” Sometimes, he’s so caught up in shipboard duties that he simply forgets his disability: “There are so many other things to think about.”

One of the best things about sailing a ship, White added, was helming – steering the ship, as the vessel is fitted with a talking compass.

Some of the other features on board the Tenacious include wheelchair lifts between deck levels, signage in braille, guidance tracks, raised directional arrows on handrails and hydraulic power-assisted steering to enable people with limited strength or mobility to helm the ship.

JST volunteer Natalie Osborne, 32, said she became “hooked” after her first voyage in 2003, when she sailed to Portugal’s capital city, Lisbon.

JST volunteer Natalie Osborne. Pic: Emma Marvin

Osborne is a partial wheelchair user, which means that she is able to move around for herself, but can’t stand up for too long and needs a lot of care and attention. Her greatest fear going on a voyage was whether she would be able to cope. “I knew about the buddy system, where you are paired up with an able bodied crew member on the trip, but that’s not the same as being at home with people who know what you need.”

But the desire to have a go outweighed her fear. She added: “I wasn’t disappointed. People were always there to help me, but what I found was, even in my condition, I could help other people as well. I was doing things that I never thought I’d be able to do.” One of those things was climbing the mast.

The ship’s crew is split into four ‘watches’ or teams, and works across a 24-hour schedule where each watch takes turns in to helm and man the ship night and day. Osborne’s main role when she’s out at sea is as a watch leader, which was something she strived to do from the start of her sailing experience.

Osborne said that attitudes on board the ship are very different to what she experiences on land. “I try to live my life with a ‘let’s have a go’ attitude, but it’s the attitudes on land that people have that put you off.

“There’s a lot of preconceptions, like ‘you won’t have the strength to do that’ or ‘we’ve got to be careful with you’. Health and safety, in particular. It’s all too much. Let us breathe.”

The Jubilee Sailing Trust was set up in 1978 by school teacher and sailor Christopher Rudd, who wanted to give disabled children he taught the same experience as his able-bodied pupils had. Lord Nelson was built in 1984.

Tenacious, which was launched in February 2000, has taken nearly 12,000 people sailing around different parts of the world. 3,000 of those have been physically disabled and 1,000 have been wheelchair users.

Both ships are three-masted barques with a square-rig sail-plan – a design used by sailors throughout the centuries.

JST volunteer Neil Mildenhall. Pic: Emma Marvin

Neil Mildenhall, 43, who was left in a wheelchair after being involved in a road accident with a drunk driver, is another watch leader on Tenacious. He took his first voyage in 2009, four years after his accident, because he wanted some adventure.

He said: “Everyone’s all in it together. Sailing at night. Full moon. Staring up at the stars. It’s just exhilarating.”

JST volunteer Mark Newton, 61, who once stood on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar square dressed in a mock Georgian uniform to raise awareness for the charity, said his first voyage was “terrifying”, but loved every moment of it. “It’s an invaluable experience and it’s quite sad when you all part.”

The next big voyage will be aboard the Lord Nelson in October, as it makes history by becoming the first ever tall ship crewed by a mix of able-bodied and physically disabled people ever to sail around the world.

Mark Newton at the helm. Pic: Emma Marvin

Simon Catterson, 45, captain of Tenacious since 2005, said: “One of the things that make these trips work is that there is always an element of risk and challenge involved.”

To find out more about sailing with the Jubilee Sailing Trust, click here.

Pic: Olympic closing ceremony by Sochi, Flickr

Now the London Olympics has finished, it is no lie that some people have been converted into Olympic fans. The event has sparked discussion on the positive atmosphere it has created, and how it lifted London from its usual full-time work mode.

ELL took to the streets to ask the locals whether they think the Olympics has changed Britain and left a lasting legacy, and if it will inspire people to take up sports or volunteering.

Photo by Stephanie Taite

Jessica Glendennan, 22, Goldsmiths student, Brockley

‘I think it’s taken money out of things that could go somewhere else like the NHS and schools. It has made people massive patriots. I think that it may have made people take up sports but not volunteering, and I still think the Olympic volunteers should have been paid.’

Photo by Stephanie Taite

Terry Bourage, 53, teacher, New Cross Gate

‘In truth, I don’t think the Olympics has changed Britain that much. But I do think it has left a lasting legacy with more young people interested in sports.’

Photo by Stephanie Taite

Kieran Hennessy, 24, Olympic hospitality employeee, New Cross

‘It’s a history we can be proud of. We had the Queen’s jubilee and our football teams not doing that well, but after the Olympics, I think we can be really proud of it. I think the lasting legacy depends on the future. It’s too early to say now. The Olympics has inspired me, and I ‘m interested in more sports but I don’t know if I’ll take it up.’

Photo by Stephanie Taite

Sally Byul Luong, 17, Student, Hither Green

‘I think the Olympics made London look good, and has left a lasting legacy for Britain as it did in Beijing,  but I’m biased being Chinese. I think that London 2012 was inspiring especially because of the women’s boxing.’

Interviewed by Debbie Sonaike and Stephanie Taite

Lawrence Okoye in the discus final Pic: teamgb.com

Lawrence Okoye was knocked out of the Olympic discus final on August 7, after finishing in last place.

The 20-year-old athlete from Croydon who threw over 65 metres in qualifying, only managed 61.03m in a competition that saw the two-time world champion, Germany’s Robert Harting clinch gold with a winning throw of 68.27m.

Shortly after the event, Okoye tweeted: “All I can say is that I’m shock. I’m in a horrible mood now but will brighten up eventually.”

However, heading over to Hyde Park to join in on the Olympics festivities earlier today, he tweeted: “Lightened up now, gonna try and enjoy the rest of the Olympic festivities.”

Although the former junior rugby player was disappointed in losing out on winning a medal, he’s not stuck for choices when it comes to career moves. He has a deferred place to study law at St Peter’s College, Oxford and he gave up a career in rugby union to focus on athletics.

Okoye, who attended Whitgift School in South Croydon, only took up the discus 18 months ago and is currently the British record holder in the event.

He won gold at the 2011 European Athletics Under 23 Championships in July last year.

Phillips Idowu. Pic: Team GB

Athlete Phillips Idowu’s Olympic medal dreams were shattered yesterday as he failed to qualify for the final of the triple jump.

The Hackney-born sportsman, nicknamed the ‘invisible man’ because he disappeared in the lead up to the Games, only managed to clear 16.53 metres in his third and last attempt, leaving him 10 cm short of a place in the top 12 for next week’s final.

The 33-year-old, who’s been known to clear 17 metres with ease, had not competed competitively for two months after he slipped on a take-off board, which caused damage to a nerve in the back of his knee and hip.

The Beijing silver medallist, who grew up only a few miles away from the Olympic stadium, caused controversy after failing to turn up at the UK Athletic pre-Games training camp in Portugal. He said he stayed in London to carry on treatment on his hip injury with his own physiotherapists.

However, Idowu’s actions were heavily criticised by Team GB’s athletics coach Charles van Commenee, who said: “When he shows up and where he sleeps, we have no idea. I find it bizarre. We have to deal with the situation as it is presented to us”.

After losing out on his chance to qualify for the triple jump final, Idowu admitted:  “I knew I would be rusty because it’s been a while.

“Conditions were difficult because of the wind and I knew that would be a factor, but that wasn’t me out there today. I’ve competed for 12 years and I can’t remember a time I’ve performed that badly.”

The British triple jumper said that he “wanted to battle for gold” but admitted it was all over and there was nothing that he could do.  He added: “The crowd has been great. I’m upset that I let them down. All year I’ve been tagged as a medal favourite and I haven’t got the chance to go out there and do it.”

Meanwhile Idowu ruled out the idea of retiring just yet. “Definitely I am going to carry on competing. I don’t think you’ve seen the best of me yet. Regardless of my achievements at these Games I was never going to finish here”.

Lawrence Okoye Pic: teamgb.com

Lawrence Okoye will compete in the Olympic discus final on August 7 after a testing qualifying round in front of 80,000 spectators.

The athlete, who hails from Croydon, struggled initially when his first throw landed outside the permitted zone, narrowly missing a photographer.  On Okoye’s second throw he was on target and landed at 63 meters but this still only left him in 16^th place, and only 12 go through.

On his final throw Okoye landed a massive 65.28 metres, passing the automatic qualifying mark.  He jumped up the table into fourth place overall and will be the sole Briton in tomorrows final. Meanwhile Beijing gold medallist Estonian Gerd Kanter qualified in first place with a throw of 66.39 metres.

Afterwards Okoye, who has a personal best of 68.24 metres, tweeted: “Words can’t describe how I feel, thanks to EVERYONE for their support! An even bigger day is coming tomorrow!!”

Former Olympic champion Denise Lewis said: “Lawrence Okoye has bags of talent and to produce something like that to reach the final is tremendous”.

The 20-year old athlete, who attended Whitgift School in South Croydon, only took up the discus 18 months ago but has decided to defer his place to read law at St Peter’s college, Oxford.

Catch all the action at 7.45pm.

Kids in training. Pic: Rahat Mustafa

The sun is shining when Ethan Mayer climbs the podium. Beads of sweat glisten on his forehead and he is short of breath but Ethan still manages to smile at the cheering crowd. Just minutes before, the 10-year-old boy from a school in Lewisham, had put the athletics track on fire when he outran seven other boys to claim the gold in the 200 metre run.

It’s August 2 and day one of a two-day festival organised by Lewisham Positive Futures. More then fifty children aged 10 – 15 have gathered at the Lady Arena in Catford to compete in a range of athletic events, boxing bouts and fencing rounds. At a time when London is playing host to the 2012 Olympics and the Paralympics, the children, parents and teachers of Lewisham are celebrating the spirit of the Games in their own small but significant way.

Pic: Rahat Mustafa

Part of the Opportunity ‘Inspired by London 2012’ scheme in partnership with the Prince’s Trust and The Department for Culture Media and Sport, the intiative aims to involve the young people across the UK in the excitement of London 2012.

“I am excited that I am learning some Olympic techniques,” Ethan said. “When they show various games on TV, I like trying them out myself.”

Parents, too, are enthusiastic: “This gives the children a chance to have a positive influence, which is very important,” said Lynn Hurst, mother of a 11-year-old Melinda.

“The event gives young people a chance to learn the correct techniques, develop skills, meet new people and gain a better understanding of the rules of each sport,” said Peter Dacres, social inclusion officer at Lewisham Positive Futures. “It is a day full of fitness and fun!” He believes the festival will provide young people an opportunity to get involved with the Games.

“Young people wanted to be involved, they wanted to be part of the Olympics. And this provides them with what they looked for,” Dacres said, as he rounded up the first day’s events at the Lady Arena.

12-year-old Rashida Helensmith couldn’t agree more.

“I am really happy that I could do it,” she said. “It was quite fun and it makes me feel like I am also doing the same sports as those in the Olympics.”

Pic: Rahat Mustafa

Pic: Rahat Mustafa

Pic: Rahat Mustafa

Lewisham Positive Futures is among 91 community-based projects managed locally by Millwall Community Scheme and nationally by Catch22.

Jasmine Breinburg. Pic: BBC

A Deptford schoolgirl and pupil at Croydon’s BRIT school has achieved overnight fame after she starred in the internet tribute section of  Danny Boyle’s Olympic opening ceremony extravaganza.

Jasmine Breinburg, 18, played the part of a young girl who loses her phone on a night out and is tracked down by a love-struck man.

The much-lauded show appeared to capture the mood of the nation; certainly Breinburg’s own part in the performance won the previously unknown dancer legions of fans in the space of minutes as Twitter users rushed to declare their love.

Matthew Wynn tweeted: “ Jasmine Breinburg you are so beautiful.”

Charlie Hurst tweeted: “Jasmine Breinburg, the beautiful girl from the Olympic opening ceremony has the best hair ever. Wowzers”

Kieran JD tweeted: “I think im in love with Jasmine Breinburg. She is beautiful!”

Breinburg attended an open audition for a part in the enthralling dance performance along with 20 fellow students from Croydon’s BRIT school. After several call-backs she was told she had been given a central role, but knew little else about what it entailed.

She told The Telegraph: “I knew I had an important role but I didn’t realise the extent of it. A lot of it was kept confidential as well.

“It only really dawned on me in the dress rehearsals but even then, we knew we were just one section in a number of routines.”

She said the show was always going to be great. “The team, the directors, Danny, they had a chemistry and an energy about them,” she said. “It could not really fail because everyone worked so well together.”

Her mother, Heather, who lives on Deptford’s Crossfields Estate,  told ELL that her daughter was now reluctant to give any more interviews because she was  suffering from acute fatigue from her whirlwind week. Media organisations from all over the world have been anxious to find out more about her ever since the previously unknown dancer wowed millions with her talent and beauty last Friday.
Despite her new found fame, her daughter intends on going back to the BRIT School in September to finish her A-levels before pursuing a career as a professional dancer.

Pic: Olympic Swimmers by Sum of Marc, Flickr

The opening Olympic ceremony attracted a global audience of one billion, and a staggering 27 million UK viewers.

So with the city being so immersed in sport, which Olympic sports are people watching? Are Londoners enjoying the games? And how much time are people spending watching the Olympics?

EastLondonLines went to find out what local people thought of the Games so far.

Helen Cooms

Helen Cooms, 48, a student advisor from Thornton Heath, is not enjoying the games.

“I’m not really a fan. I haven’t taken much interest in it because I’m not a sport watcher. I didn’t watch the opening ceremony but I heard it was really good. I might watch it eventually. I’m more of a participator that a watcher – my husband has been watching a lot of the sports but I haven’t. If there were more tickets available to people I might be more interested.”

Adam Clifford

Adam Clifford, 25, a musician from New Cross, is excited about watching the games.

“I’m going to watch the tennis which should be really good, my friend got us tickets. I think the way the tickets were sold was ridiculous because of all the empty seats, but I have been watching a bit of the sport. I think sport really enriches people’s lives. The highlight for the Olympics for me would probably be to see whether Usain Bolt can hold onto his title.”

Yasemin Yildiz

Yasemin Yildiz, 24, an administrator from Hackney, is really enjoying watching the games locally.

“I’m really looking forward to most of the events. I haven’t watched a lot of sport yet because the ones I’m interested in haven’t started yet. I really want to see the athletics and swimming. I really enjoy Olympic sport, it’s great that it’s happening in my local area. The highlight of the Olympics so far would be the opening ceremony, I thought it was great! I think the Olympics helps people get away from the problems and allows them to just enjoy sport.”

Matt Fitzgerald

Matt Fitzgerald, 25, a PhD student from Northampton, is not enjoying the Olympics.

“I’m not really a big Olympic fan. I don’t think London should be hosting the Olympics in its current situation, so I haven’t been watching the sports. Also with the amount of empty seats that keep going to waste, I think considering that the Olympics Committee are paying themselves seven figure sums, they should be doing a better job.”

Kyra Harrington

Kyra Harrington, 25, from Whitechapel, who works in communications, thinks that the Games are providing community spirit.

“I’m really interested in swimming, basketball and beach volleyball. I’m from Amsterdam so I’m supporting all of the Dutch teams. I haven’t been to any of the big screens yet but I’m looking forward to going to the beach volleyball games to watch. I think the Olympics is great fun because its bringing communities together and gets everyone involved and it’s really fun.”

Interviews by Ufuoma Essi; pictures by Stephanie Taitte

Twinelle Hopeson. Pic: Celine Chaplin

I greet Twinelle Hopeson outside the Sutton arena training ground. Twenty-year-old Twinelle was a Lloyds TSB local hero, and her dedication and involvement to her sport and in the community saw her selected to be a torchbearer in Croydon last week.

She’s running late for our interview but she has a good excuse. Today Twinelle was training with an athlete competing at the London Olympics from Dominica . They’re now friends on Facebook, and Twinelle is obviously excited about her involvement in training with a budding star at this years Games. She says she makes friends from all over the world because of athletics. “Today I was learning from Luan Gabriel from Dominica during training and it’s so exciting to be involved.”

It’s been a busy time for the 20-year-old athlete. Not only has she been training with a contender for the biggest sporting event London has ever hosted, but she got to run through her hometown of Croydon carrying the Olympic Torch.

Twinelle has a list of achievements longer than the track she trains on, which is a result of the serious training she puts in. She competed in the World Junior Championships in Canada two years ago as part of the women’s 4 x 100m relay and in Serbia during the European Youth Olympics. During this time, she achieved a handful of personal bests and represented Britain in the 100m final.

She says of the honour, “It was amazing, it was right next to my primary school, so I had loads of support from my friends from secondary school, my family and loads of my friends from West Croydon Methodist church.”

Twinelle clearly has a great support network behind her. Backed by her family, her father is her trainer, her mum a dietician and her older sister was an athlete herself before injury struck. Twinelle says “I’ve kind of been born into it. Plus it helps when things go wrong because you’ve got a support team behind you.”

Then she has the community of her church which held a special torch relay party in her honour. “We had a funfair and bouncy castle, with face painting, music and food. My friends and family helped celebrate and it was really nice.” Community is clearly important to her.

Twinelle looks to home grown heroes like Daley Thompson for inspiration, “His achievements at past Olympics and his world records are really inspiring. I met him when I was younger, he’s such an amazing athlete, and a really good figure giving loads of advice and motivation.”

This is something she replicates in her community work with charity Summers Trust. She participates in a yearly trip with disadvantaged children.  “A lot can’t afford holidays so as part of the trust we take them away on activity holidays. Coming from a sporting background I get to give my experience and knowledge to the kids so that’s really rewarding. I love doing it”.

She said she was very proud to carry the torch. “I’m really glad to have been involved with it, especially since I’m not competing, I feel like I have played my part in the 2012 Olympics which is a really good feeling.”

Tom Baxter, 22, student, Hackney:

“I think it was pretty epic, slightly over dramatic, didn’t really understand most of what went on but I was feeling it. I liked what I thought were people dressed as Abraham Lincoln dancing  in unison but I’m told they weren’t Abraham Lincoln”.

Cathal Turley, 29, banker, Wapping:

“I thought it started pretty poor but in the end it was good. I think the music was great, they did a lot there. They went through every genre of music which I really enjoyed. The Cure coming on was my favourite bit of the whole ceremony and Mr Bean”.

Stefaine McDonald, ecological economist, 34, Edinburgh:

“It was amazing visually but a bit over indulgent. I think Danny Boyle went off on a ‘I’m a film director’ tangent. I didn’t like the NHS beds bit at all”.

Jennifer Hughes, 27, shop owner, Islington:

“I was a bit confused to honest, I didn’t get what was going on at all. It was hard to hear where we were sitting which didn’t help either. In the end it was pretty spectacular though”.