A HISTORIC yacht has arrived in the North-East where apprentices will save her from the scrap heap following a public appeal.

Senora – a 108-year-old yacht, originally built on the isle of Bute in Scotland – has been bought by a Sunderland trust and her restoration will be a project for 18 apprentices from the Wearside area.

The training project is being run by the Senora Trust and North-East training company, Monumental Training.

The apprentices, who are aged between 16 and 18, will be the first ship apprentices in the area in 30 years and will be doing NVQ diplomas.

Kim Simpson, chairman of the Senora Trust, said: “Sunderland is famous for its ship building – that’s the heritage of the city but there haven’t been any apprentices for 30 years since the yards closed.

“The key thing about the project is teaching welding skills and metal fabrication and with those skills they will be able to move into the engineering and construction sectors and find good jobs.”

So far community fundraising has raised £10,000 and allowed the trust to buy the yacht for £6,000 and start the project.

They are now trying to raise a further £50,000 for the rest of the restoration and apprenticeship programme.

The project started in 2015 and the yacht was welcomed to Sunderland on Saturday with a theatre and music event.

The boat, which is 50ft long and weighs ten tonnes, was then taken to the former Pallion shipyard, which is the last remaining ship yard on the River Wear, where apprentices will start work on the restoration.

Mr Simpson added: “It’s all really worth it when you can see the faces of the young people and how excited they are to work on this. It’s really great.”

Ken Dunbar, chief executive at Sunderland Business Improvement District, is backing the project.

He said: “The arrival of Señora provides a brilliant opportunity for the city’s young apprentices to get on board, quite literally, and work on the yacht to restore it in time for the city’s 2018 Tall Ships Race.

“Once the yacht is complete, it will be moored on Sunderland’s quayside, so that the young apprentices can showcase their finished work to locals and visitors to the city - and prove that the manufacturing skills that once made the city have been passed on to a new generation.”

To donate to the project visit the Senora Trust's Facebook page.