AN INTREPID Essex grandmother is celebrating the last leg of a 50-mile coracle adventure.Kay Johnson, 75, from Great Braxted near Tiptree, and Hertfordshire grandmother Olivia Elton Barratt made their own coracles to travel along the River Thames to raise more than £10,000 for the Lord Mayor's Charity Appeal for Save the Children.

AN INTREPID Essex grandmother is celebrating the last leg of a 50-mile coracle adventure.

Kay Johnson, 75, from Great Braxted near Tiptree, and Hertfordshire grandmother Olivia Elton Barratt made their own coracles to travel along the River Thames to raise more than £10,000 for the Lord Mayor's Charity Appeal for Save the Children.

They started at the source of the Thames (Isis) near Kemble in Oxfordshire on July 18 and will be sailing between Newbridge and Godstow - the finishing post - between August 27 and 29.

As members of the Worshipful Company of Basketmakers, the grandmothers are experts in basketmaking, using their skills to build their own coracles for the journey.

The stretch of river north of Oxford is not used by the larger, faster vessels making it ideal for paddling a coracle, which is likened to going to sea in a saucer.

Despite Britain being one of the world's richest countries, poverty remains the most serious problems affecting the welfare of one in four children. The Lord Mayor's Appeal is supporting Save the Children's work to solve the inherent problems of growing up the areas of most acute deprivation in the UK.

If you wish to support the sailors, send a donation made payable to: "Worshipful Company of Basketmakers" or "The Lord Mayor's Appeal" c/o The Clerk, Worshipful Company of Basketmakers, 48 Seymour Walk, London SW10 9NF or telephone the appeal office 020 7929 8352 and quote "Coracles".