A COUNTY Durham couple are splashing out to help people from some of the most disadvantaged parts of the North-East.
Rupert and Sarah Setchell, of Dipton, near Consett, signed up to take members of Gateshead community groups on the sea voyage of a lifetime.
The couple just had time to celebrate their second wedding anniversary before Sarah set sail last weekend. Rupert will join her in the coming weeks.
The couple are volunteers with Gateshead Borough Council's adventure education unit, Wayout in Gateshead, which secured £50,000 for the voyage.
Rupert, an engineer for gas pipeline company Transco, and Sarah, a superstore department manager, will each lead a different leg of the voyage.
"This project will change people's lives," said Rupert.
The craft being used is a sailing ship, the Provident, built in 1924.
More than 120 people are taking part, including teenagers from unemployment blackspots.
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