FIVE lucky lads are enjoying a thrilling sailing adventure this week as a reward for their kindness to pensioners.

The teenagers, from Portslade Community College, set sail from Southampton on a fantastic five-day trip on board the yacht John Laing. Luke Chart, Danny Herridge, John Cairns, Wesley Tuck and Daniel Stevens are helping sail the yacht, which last year successfully completed a gruelling round-the-world race. The 13-year-old boys are also cooking and cleaning on the 60ft yacht with 15 other youngsters from schools around the country. Staff at their school put their names forward when the Portsmouth-based charity Ocean Youth Club announced it was looking for a crew for the special trip. The boys, all from Portslade, were selected after staging a Christmas show for 30 local OAPs. They created a send-up of TV soap EastEnders with the boys playing female characters, like Tiffany and Bianca, while girls from the college played the men, dressing up as the Mitchell brothers Grant and Phil. Sue Hill, head of PE at the college who helped organise the trip, said: "It will be an absolutely wonderful experience for them. "They all put in such a lot of work to put on the show at Christmas for the pensioners, who really loved it. We decided this would be a great reward."

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