Enable holidays
Enabling young people with special needs to enjoy the waterways
One week “liveaboard” canal trips that enable young people to enjoy and experience a waterways adventure.
Each summer, we supplement our regular programme of day trips with some very special residential holidays for small numbers of disadvantaged young people (age range 14-25).
Holidays are usually for a full week and we journey along the Grand Union Canal from our Hemel Hempstead boat base towards London or Milton Keynes and back again. We use Sheldrake 2 (11 berth) and Close Shave (12 berth) alternately and have a crew/support team of six with six young people for whom this is a great adventure. Amongst the support team are at least a couple of young people aged (18-24) as participants.
We call these holidays ‘Enable’, for the simple reason that their unique benefit is enabling youngsters with physical or learning difficulties to do more for themselves and others than they are used to.
Planning and delivering these trips is a serious business and Waterways Experiences’ Enable team comprises professionals with extensive experience in working with young people of all ability levels. All volunteers on board the trips are DBS checked.
If you know a young person who might benefit from an ‘Enable Holiday’, please drop a message to [email protected]. Include a brief description of their special needs and a contact phone number. Or fill in our Enable Expression of Interest form
We are seeking sponsorship for 2026 trips, so if you would like to help – or know of an organisation who might be interested – please drop a note to [email protected]
Enable holiday dates
We are running four Enable trips during the summer holidays in 2026. The closing date for applications is 31 March 2025. Applications will be sent out after our Enable open day 7th February 11:00-15:00hrs 2026 at our base in Nash Mills.
The dates of these trips are as follows:
If you would like to register interest for our Enable trips, please complete our Enable Expression of Interest form.