RESIDENTS at Hollybank Trust in Mirfield have found their hobby plain sailing – literally.

The trust, which cares for and educates children and adults with profound disabilities, has encouraged residents to take up sailing.

And how the residents love it!

So much so the trust has teamed up with Otley Sailing Club and local firm Freightlink to offer free sailing sessions next year.

Since 1994 Hollybank Trust has been sending groups every Wednesday during the warmer months to Otley where they experience all the benefits of speeding along on the water.

The club at Bridge End Quarry welcomes the group for their weekly sessions free of charge from March to October, relying on volunteers to help out. And now Freightlink has stepped in to pay Hollybank’s corporate membership fee for 2013, which covers insurance.

Senior instructor at the club Norman Stephens has been sailing since 1968.

An enthusiastic champion of sailing for people with disabilities, he said: “It’s difficult to put into words why sailing is so wonderful for people with disabilities, but it gives them a sense of freedom and also a sense of adventure.

“They are in the middle of the lake, with no engine, just the wind and the elements. Once they are in the boat with their carers it’s fantastic to watch. The faster they go, the more they like it. Where else could they do that in safety?”

The club calls the project Sail Free and their motto is: “If you will, they can.”

It has only been made possible by volunteer sailors giving up their time for free.

But a team of six Hollybank staff has just finished powerboat training, which means the Hollybank sailors are less dependent on volunteers from the club.

Social care officer Andy Powell, who works at the trust’s Rowan Court in Holmfirth, enjoyed the training and said: “It was such an adrenalin rush but it’s great that we now have the skills to take our residents out in the boats ourselves now.

“I can’t wait until our first session next year.”