There used to be more than 2,000 Thames Sailing Barges plying up and down the Kent coast, but now there are only around 30 left sailing.

Married couple Ed Gransden and Heather Burgess have one - the Edith May - currently moored at the Old Brickmakers Dock in Lower Halstow.

Mr Gransden’s father used to charter it out for those able to pay for a sailing trip, but since they became custodians of the vessel last year, the couple have come up with a radical new way of funding the venture.

They have established a non-profit making community interest company, Tiller and Wheel, which offers free sailing trips and lessons to those interested. They hope visitors will fall so in love with the barge that they subsequently become patrons and make a donation through the couple’s crowdfunding website Patreon.

It costs around £20,000 a year to keep the Edith May maintained and afloat, and while 200 patrons would be enough to preserve it, the couple have set themselves a much more ambitious target. They believe that if they can eventually attract 10,000, they will also be able to support other barge owners and keep all the remaining vessels afloat.

Mr Gransden, 34, said: “We want as many people to enjoy these beautiful vessels as possible and technology means that crowdfunding is a viable means for us to be able to offer this.

“While coming aboard need not cost you a penny, we hope that the majority will choose to sign up as patrons to support our work from as little as £3+VAT a month, with different tiers of sponsorship offering other benefits as a way of saying thank you.”

Miss Burgess, 35, said: “Our mantra is ‘Come sailing because it’s great, subscribe because you want to.’”

Mr Gransden said: “The cost of sailing with us has gone from £120 per person a day to zero and we hope that this will open these historic vessels up to a much wider audience, who will in turn fall in love with these boats and help us to cover the maintenance costs of the remaining Thames barge fleet.

“Our long-term aim of 10,000 patrons would create a war chest that could ensure that no more of these historic boats are lost to the breakers yard.”

The couple were running socially distanced sailing trips before lockdown, leaving from Queenborough and Elmley Nature Reserve, Sheppey. They intend to resume next May.

The Edith May, which was built in 1906, is currently laid up for the winter. It has been in Mr Gransden’s family for 20 years.

For more information, visit their Patreon page.

The first 200 patrons will receive a limited edition Tiller and Wheel T-shirt. So far 60 people have signed up.

Read more: All the latest news from Sittingbourne