A GRANT donated to Chesil Sailability will make the world of difference for its sailors and volunteers.

Trustee of the group, Hugh de Iongh, applied to the Gannett Foundation UK last year.

The £1,100 donation will be put towards two new race sales and marine trolleys to help transfer equipment.

The Gannett Foundation is the charitable arm of Gannett Co Inc, owner of Newsquest Media Group, which publishes the Dorset Echo.

Hugh said: "This grant enables us to purchase new sails for our Chesil Sailability race team, a team of sailors with disabilities who compete in events across the country, and our old race sails will continue in use for general sailing.

"This grant also enables us to purchase trolleys to help our volunteers move safety and sailing equipment to and from the pontoons when we run sessions.

"This grant directly supports both sailors with disabilities and volunteers, and we could not have done this without the valuable support from the Gannett Foundation."

Tim Scarisbrick has been sailing since he was three years old but joined Chesil Sailability after she suffered a stroke.

Philip Hall, another member of Chesil Sailability, suffers from paraplegia.

He said: "When we go out to racing events there are people with various disabilities. But out sailing it is just the boat and the water and it's amazing."

Chesil Sailability is a volunteer-run charity that was set up by a group of people who were inspired by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the sailing, held locally in Weymouth and Portland.

The majority of the boats are specifically designed for people with disabilities or have been adapted.

Hugh added: "This is the first time we have applied to the Gannett Foundation grant. We always have things that we need because it is a very equipment intensive sport.

"Having the support of the community and fundraisers is really important to us.

"The marina trolleys are such a big help from to get equipment and life jackets from one end of the pontoon to the other. It's quite a task so having more trolleys will be a great help.

"We run a regular Tuesday evening session we we sail in the harbour. People can do it for fun, to learn how to sail and to compete in racing.

"Tim and Philip are both in the race team. I would definitely rather be on Tim's team than against him. He is a fantastic sailor.

"We are passionate about giving all people the opportunity to progress as far as they want to go and supporting them as much as we can."