By William Moncrieff, Communications Apprentice
The Dumfries and Galloway Parasport Festival took place on Tuesday 27th February. The festival was held in DG1 Leisure complex, where various sports were being provided with fantastic opportunities to participate in; Swimming, Judo, Boccia and Pickleball.
SDS’s Dumfries and Galloway Regional Development Manager, Dianne Campbell, along with branch colleagues and the support of local sporting clubs, organised and delivered activities on the day.
Dianne believes that everyone played a crucial role in the festival and highlighted the partnership working that goes into such occasions by listing many of those involved. Thanks to Laura Vickers, Dumfries and Galloway Disability Sport (DGDS) Branch Coordinator, Dave Denholm, DGDS Chair, Dave Watt, DGDS Boccia Coach, Dumfries College Students, Dumfries High Sports Leaders, Paul Wilson from Scottish Swimming and coaches from the venue, Luke Struthers and JudoScotland coaches and Ryan and Charlie for Pickleball.
The event was fortunate to benefit from the support of volunteers from Dumfries and Galloway College. The students decided to volunteer at the event as they saw it to be a great opportunity to gain some practical experience.
One student, Kieran, explained, “I have enjoyed my day because I have learned something new”.
Kieran further explained that the day created a number of opportunities to work with a new range of participants: “It’s with a group of children that you don’t often get the chance to work with”.
Dianne believes that the Parasport Festival was a success, with a total of 20 participants: 14 boys and six girls. Numbers were up from the 12 attendees in the previous year.
When reflecting on the day, Dianne said, “I was delighted how the Dumfries Parasport event went and it was lovely to see an increase in numbers of children attending this year. So many positive comments from teachers, parents and children attending. We are already looking forward to next year’s event!”
There are still opportunities to find out more about your local Parasport festival and attend, visit https://www.scottishdisabilitysport.com/parasport-festivals-2024-dates-announced/