PUPILS will soon be swapping Mirfield for India in a mission to help others.

A group of young people from Mirfield and Dewsbury have been given the chance to help create a sensory garden at an Indian school.

The 10 Castle Hall School pupils and some former Mirfield Free Grammar pupils will help to build the garden at the Manav Kalyan Trust in Sapatura in India.

And their work will benefit visually-impaired children in the region for years to come.

Deanne Lord, the design and technology technician from Castle Hall School, said: “They are all really excited about it.

“We will have four days to get as much done as possible so it will be a really big challenge.

“But we wanted to leave something behind to benefit the children there and it’s something that can be worked on by other people in the future.

“The project will train our young people and some of their parents with skills and attitudes that will not only help the children of the Kalyan Trust in India, but also help the local community in the future.

“The young children will be involved at every step of the way.

“With a lot of hard, hot work they will build a great new sensory garden to further the stimulation of visually impaired children in the region.”

The sensory garden will develop skills and experiences for the visually impaired Indian children using puzzles, swings, sounds, tactile surfaces and plants – the aim is to provide relaxation, encourage exploration and develop confidence.

The pupils are currently learning skills to carry out the work on the sensory garden.

And they are getting some experience now by working on a Mirfield church garden in preparation.

The trip, which will take place in October, will be led by the Mirfield Community Trust in partnership with the Kirklees Young People’s Service.

Deanne Lord added: “The children at Castle Hall have been in the news a lot lately, but we want to show that we are carrying on, we’re not stopping and we are doing what we can to help our pupils and other children elsewhere.”

In order to fulfil their dream to help children in India the group need to raise £18,000 to fund the trip.

They have planned a series of events to raise the money with a recent non-uniform day at Castle Hall School which raised £1,034 towards the project.

On Monday evening they will also carry out work in the grounds of St Mary’s Church in Mirfield which will give them practice and also help their own community.