Colouring the Community

The last remaining steam tug-tender in Britain has been able to refurbish its engine room, thanks to a generous paint donation from its local Dulux Decorator Centre on Manchester Road, Altrincham.

The paint was awarded as part of the company's Colouring the Community scheme, after being nominated by John Broomby, membership secretary of the Daniel Adamson Preservation Society, which is overseeing the boat's refurbishment. John's son Robert is a local Altrincham contractor and regular customer of the Manchester Road store.

The paint donation meant that the 20 volunteers, who regularly help out with the extensive restoration work on the boat, were able to finally complete the first stage.

The tug boat, built in 1903, is currently under large-scale restoration in Sandon Dock, Liverpool. Once restored it will boast Art Deco saloons and a fully operational steam engine. The aim is to have the vessel cruising by 2012, when it will benefit the whole community, allowing them to sail for free. In the last 12 months underprivileged children from the Wirral have been able to enjoy an action packed day on the vessel, while local colleges visit weekly to learn valuable skills, such as woodwork, on the boat.

The engine room, which is the currently being restored, has been painted a variety of colours, ranging from green to red, and each pipe is a different colour due to safety stipulations.

John commented: "Restoring the boat has been such huge project and we've been really lucky that we've had so many willing volunteers. The paint donation from Dulux Decorator Centres has enabled us to complete the work on the engine room and has given us all something to be proud of.

"The help and advice we have received from Jamie, and the team at the Altrincham store, has been invaluable and really given us the boost we needed. We are all immensely grateful and hope that they will all come down and see what a massive difference the paint donation has made."

Jamie Hyde, store manager of the Altrincham Dulux Decorator Centre, said: "The steam tug-tender is a fantastic project, which involves all of the local community and we were delighted that we could help out. The boat looks fantastic and I will certainly be urging all my customers to go down and see what a great job everyone has done on the restoration. We wish them all the success in the future."

Anyone wishing to volunteer or support the project can visit http://www.danieladamson.co.uk.