AN APPEAL to provide long-term support for disabled Grasmere man Will Clark is to be boosted by the proceeds of a new play.

Tracing Shadows – billed as an ‘intriguing thriller’ – will be premiered at The Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds, on January 19 and producer Nathan Winn, who has links with the Clark family, said the professional cast and creative team wanted donations and profits from ticket sales to go to the Will Clark Fund.

Will, 28, was left tetraplegic by a cycling accident while out on a charity cycle ride in July.

He spent five months in the regional spinal unit at Middlesbrough before being allowed home in December.

Mr Winn said: “The performance of Tracing Shadows is now sold out, and people that have been unable to acquire a ticket have been generously supporting the cause by offering to donate without seeing the play.

“We would now love to take it to venues in the Lake District, so that Will himself and people who actually know Will personally have the opportunity to see the play.”

Mr Winn said he hoped to explore the possibility of putting on a performance at the Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal.

As part of of the fundraising effort to provide support for Will, The Westmorland Gazette launched the Wheels for Will appeal in November to raise £25,000 for a special all-terrain quad that Will can operate with his head movements.

Thanks to the generosity of Gazette readers and an amazing £12,500 donation from former Cumbria Trading Standards officer Steve Hague, of Heversham, the target was reached in just seven weeks.

Mr Hague visited the Clark family in Grasmere on Monday to hand over his donation, which now means Will’s quad can be ordered.