Para-Sports Club Scoops ‘Best Para Football Project – East Region’ Award
We’re delighted to announce that our hugely popular and unique ‘Para-Sports Club’ has been recognised as the ‘Best Para-Football Project’ in the East Region in the 2022 Scottish Football Association Grassroots Awards in partnership with the Sunday Mail and McDonalds.
The awards aim to recognise and reward people across the country that make a difference to grassroots football in their local community and this is now the 2nd time in 3 years that our Para-Sports Club has been recognised as being the leading project of its kind in the East Region. This award is also now the 5th prestigious accolade that the Community Trust has won in recent years; having been selected as the ‘Best Football for All Project’ in the East Region in 2019, ‘Best Professional Club in the Community’ in Scotland in 2019 and ‘Best Para-Football Project’ in the East Region in 2020. Finally, the Community Trust was recognised by UEFA as a bronze winner in the category of ‘Best Professional Club in the Community’ in the UEFA Grassroots Awards in 2020, in other words the 3rd best of its kind in Europe.
Jamie Kirk, Chief Executive for the Community Trust, had this to say about the latest award “Our Para-Sports Club is a really important part of DUCT and It’s always really nice to be recognised for the work we do in the community, especially from one of main partners at the Scottish FA. I’d like to congratulate Ryan Alexander, Paul Wilson and all of the coaches, volunteers, parents, participants, partners and supporters of our Para-Sports Club on this fantastic achievement.”
Launched in 2019, Dundee United Para-Sports Club now caters for around 300 participants each week in both school-based physical activity and community-based sports clubs in athletics, badminton, boccia, football and powerchair football complimenting our innovative partnership with Kingspark School. Each session is specifically tailored to the needs of our participants, with specific sessions available for those living with a physical disability or a learning disability; as well as weekly activity for adults living with/recovering from a mental ill health diagnosis.
David Dorward, DUCT Chair, added “As a Community Trust we deliver an extensive and wide variety of sporting and non-sporting services within our local community, but our Para-Sports Club is the one that we are particularly proud of. What makes it so special is the passion and commitment of our staff who deserve enormous credit, and most importantly the sheer enjoyment of all the participants “
We were thrilled to share our good news with our partners at Tayside Dynamos and Kingspark School as well as one of our volunteers, Paul Smith, who all play such a key role in the delivery of the Para Sports-Club project.
Ryan Alexander, Para-Sports Development Officer, was thrilled to collect the award with volunteer Paul Smith “The amazing work we do would not be possible without the support from all our partners, carers & parents, volunteers and coaches and most importantly our participants. They make me smile every day, and winning this award means so much to everyone at the Community Trust.”
There are some exciting plans for the coming months ahead for the Para-Sports Club which include the launch of even more community-based sports sessions for children, young people and adults living with a disability. Keep an eye on all DUCT social media channels and our website for more information.