Congratulations to Sheila and her team at SNAP

Welcome to this week’s edition of the East Kilbride News.

Our news feature over pages four and five focuses on the Special Needs Adventure Playground (SNAP) group on their 25th anniversary.

Two months ago, the additional support needs group convinced South Lanarkshire Council to perform a U-turn on plans to axe a vital bus service, which transports young children to and from their base at Blacklaw Primary School. Our reporter Mark Pirie went to meet founder Sheila Halford to reflect on a crucial period for the club.

SNAP provide a lifeline for vulnerable families and should be commended for their incredible work over the last 25 years. Congratulations to Sheila and her team on reaching this milestone.

On page nine you will find the inspirational story of Calderwood man Edward Blue, who has overcome a rare kidney disease to compete in this weekend’s British Transplant Games taking place across North Lanarkshire.

He is one of a number of East Kilbride residents taking part and we wish everyone the best of luck in their events.

Elsewhere, there is some good news for the town’s shopping centre – EK, East Kilbride – after The Hub EK received a top tourism award. You can read more about this on page eight.

If you would like to share your opinions about any of our stories, you can contact the news desk via one of the methods on the left-hand side of this page. Our letters page can be found on page 34.

Finally, don’t forget to take part in our fantastic line-up of competitions. This week there are prizes up for grabs from EK, East Kilbride, Di Maggio’s East Kilbride, VUE Cinemas and Hamilton Racecourse. Good luck!