W/D backed by chief

The Waysiders/Drumpellier coaching team have been praised for their work with an autism charity by Scottish Rugby chiefs.

The Langloan club have taken steps to better understand how to make the club more inclusive as 12 members of the coaching and management team attended a three-hour course led by HOPE for Autism.

This allows staff at the club to improve their work with children who have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD_.

Scottish Rugby Outreach and Equality Manager, Pete Young, was delighted with their efforts:“It is very encouraging to see a club like W/D taking such a proactive approach to developing their club.

“They identified an area where they needed help and have gone out and created links with a local charity to access additional support and training for their members, which will better equip them to encourage and work with young participants with ASD.

“This is an excellent example of good practice that we hope will encourage other clubs to make connections with local groups in their own community to assist them in upskilling club members to accommodate more participants in our game.”

W/D club president, Chris McGuigan, said:“We’re a community-based sports club that thrives on members and players feeling part of something bigger.”