Sunderland teenage plane fanatic gets special tour of North East Land, Air and Sea Museum ahead of its reopening
By Sam Johnson
Published 22nd Jul 2020, 06:00 BST
An autistic schoolboy was given the opportunity to be the first guest back at the North East Land, Sea and Air Museum (NELSAM) ahead of the site reopening its doors for the first time since March.
The museum officially reopens on Tuesday July 21, but plane fanatic Jack Berry was given a special tour of the attraction as its first guest back after being forced to close due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Jack, who attends Barbra Priestman Academy, was diagnosed with autism at two years old and is selectively mute but loves anything to do with history and became fascinated with planes after hearing stories from his grandad, who worked on concorde aircraft.
After Jack’s mum Sara got in touch with the museum, chair of NELSAM, David Charles was more than happy for Jack to be their first guest since March.
Jack’s Mum Sara said: “Jack is massively inspired by history. He loves anything to do with planes and history, which he gets from his grandad. When he found out we were going for a special visit he was bouncing up and down.”
“We’re really thankful to David and the museum for setting this up and Jack is just over the moon with it.”
The North East Land, Sea and Air Museum has introduced a number of social distancing measures in order to adhere to government guidelines, which includes hand sanitising stations, signs encouraging two metre distances, regular cleaning and doors being kept open to avoid contact.
On display will be a number of historic vehicles and aircraft.
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