Disability Sport Week: Para Club award delights Corstorphine AAC

Monday 25th November 2024

Corstorphine AAC Frame Running group recently had 10 athletes aged five to 60+ involved in their session (photo via the club)

Find out more about Scottish Disability Sport Week

It’s Scottish Disability Sport Week and we will be highlighting some of the athletes, clubs and programmes at the forefront of inclusion within our sport.

The week-long campaign aims to encourage people with disabilities to improve their wellbeing by being more physically active, in a way that suits them.

Read more below on Corstorphine AAC, winners of our Janice Eaglesham MBE Para Development Club of the Year title at the 4J Annual Awards . . .

Corstorphine AAC were honoured for the second consecutive year at the 4J Awards after being named Para Development Club of the Year.

The accolade, presented in memory of the late Janice Eaglesham MBE, recognises the ongoing growth and development of the frame running group.

More than £15,000 has been raised for frames, equipment and storage, while CAAC welcomed 20 athletes from six clubs as it hosted its first frame running festival in June.

Frame running coaches Graeme Reid and Gill Menzies, along with Club Together Officer Harry Baird, were presented with the glass trophy by Paralympic champion Ben Sandilands at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow.

It came 12 months after CAAC was named Impact Club of the Year at the annual awards bash.

Graeme, who doubles up as club vice-president, said: ‘It was a huge honour just to be one of the three nominated for the award, but to win it was a really pleasant surprise.

‘We don’t do what we do to win awards, that’s for other people to decide, but we do it for the pleasure, enjoyment and satisfaction of seeing the people in the group develop in so many ways.

Corstorphine AAC trio Graeme Reid, Gill Menzies and Harry Baird celebrate Awards success with Ben Sandilands (photo by Bobby Gavin)

‘The last 12 months has seen the group expand from six to a total of 12 regular participants between the two sessions, and from four to six coaches and helpers, all in line with our hopes and expectations.

‘We have a queue of people hoping to join too, so we’ll need to get the fundraising hats on again to be able to afford some new frames.

‘It was a great learning experience holding our first frame running event at Saughton and we look forward to building on that experience in future years.

‘We are now a well-established club within the frame running community and we are at a point where we need to decide our next move.

‘We’ll be holding discussions with the relevant people within the club, Lothian Disability Sports and scottishathletics to plan the way forward.’

With thanks to Neil Hutton

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Tags: Ben Sandilands, Corstorphine AAC, Janice Eaglesham MBE Para Development Club of Year, Para athletics, Scottish Disability Sport Week