A COUPLE who gave thousands of disabled people sailing pleasure on Southampton Water after losing their daughter in the Clapham rail disaster have been honoured.

Jimmy and Muriel MacGregor lost their daughter Alison at Clapham and were driving home from the memorial service at Winchester Cathedral in January 9, 1989, when they heard an appeal for funds to build a boat which could provide trips for the disabled.

They were looking for a charity they could donate money to, and in an instant they decided to contact the Solent Dolphin Trust, which was appealing for funds.

"As soon as we heard the appeal, everything clicked into place. It was the obvious thing to do," said Mrs MacGregor.

Her husband recalled: "We just looked at each other and said 'Right, that's it."

Their daughter had been born into their hobby of sailing and was a keen competitor in major Solent events. She had raced in a winter series event on the weekend before the disaster.

It was the couple's £20,000 donation which enabled the trust to buy its first boat, the Alison MacGregor, which has since been replaced by another purpose-built vessel carrying the same name.

In the past decade 14,000 disabled and elderly people have been given trips from the boats' mooring, provided by Marina Developments Ltd at Hythe Marina.

Both Mr and Mrs MacGregor were founder members of the charity's board of directors, Mrs MacGregor as secretary, but have decided to retire after a decade of travelling to meetings at Hythe from their Wimborne home.

And in presenting them with an inscribed friendship decanter and glasses, trust chairman Malcolm Hammond referred to their ten years of "outstanding service".

Trust director and secretary John Buxton also pointed out that the fundraising campaign had been going through a difficult spell until Mr and Mrs MacGregor came on the scene. He reflected: "We never looked back after that."

Mr MacGregor, a retired dentist, paid tribute to the work done by all the volunteers, captains and crew members who keep the boat operating in sparkling condition.

He added: "When we look at this vessel with Alison MacGregor on the back of it we know Alison would have been absolutely over the moon."

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