Our project used rugby as a vehicle, through Team Mate Dates to equip young people with additional support need with key life skills and helped with their personal development and giving them confidence to meet new people.

A big part of Team Mate Dates is the fact that the young people play rugby, train regularly and socialise with a diverse group of people, which contributes to reducing inequalities within the team and the wider community.

The project promoted integration, social connectedness and activity opportunities that will support future career development and workability by bringing together the different teams that Trust Rugby International have established to date in the West and East of Scotland, Ayrshire Clan, Edinburgh Clan, Glasgow Clan and young people at the transition age (16-20 year old) in Additional Support Needs Schools. They became integrated within a mainstream sport and social activity with the potential of future employment.

We provided a 1 week activity break for 11-14 year olds and two residential weekends for 15-18 year olds who are blind or partially sighted help promote their independence and allow respite for carers.

We also provided a family residential weekend in Dumfries & Galloway offering peers support and a break for the normal routine.

We worked with St Roch’s After School Club to provide a wide variety of fun & stimulating activities and opportunities for our deaf young people, from all over the West of Scotland and beyond.

They met and mixed with an age appropriate peer group while their carers enjoyed a break from their caring roles. This helped alleviate the isolation and loneliness they experience in a hearing world, builds confidence & self esteem, fosters life long friendships and helps our young people to see their deafness in a more positive light.

West Scotland Deaf Children’s Society provides social and emotional support to deaf children, young people and their families. For many of our families the clubs provide the only social activity and meaningful peer interaction that the children and young people have, and the only break their carers are able to actually relax and benefit from.

We provided one hour fully personalised sessions in our state-of-the-art multi-sensory room for young people with disabilities and their carers. This was followed by tea/coffee and cake after the session. Carers had the choice to stay or how they wanted to spend their time.

We provided grants directly to carers who care for an adult who has Down’s Syndrome and who lives with them.

We provided grants directly to carers who care for an adult with serious mental health problems or mental illness living in Scotland.

We provided grants directly to carers who care for people living with dementia to plan and pay for a short break of their choice.

We provided grants directly to carers who care for an adult with serious mental health problems or mental illness, living in Scotland.

We provided a5-day summer camp for 35 young carers, aged 8-25 years old, living in a family affected by Huntington’s disease.

The camp included a range of daytime and evening activities as well as one-to-one and group sessions with Scottish Huntington’s Association Specialist Youth Advisors, on the issues surrounding Huntington’s disease and being a young carer.

To support the continuation of a fully managed, all-inclusive annual multi-sport, pan-disability residential sports camp held at Badaguish Activity Centre. The camps are three days long, very positive and intensive for participants and a great chance for carer respite sustained through increased activity.

Demand for the camps is growing and we cannot expand places or provide additional equipment.