DUNDEE DRAGONS 10th ANNIVERSARY

February saw the 10th anniversary of the fantastic Dundee Dragons Wheelchair Sports Club. We caught up with Founding member Elizabeth Ferris to explain the origins of the Dragons and the effect it has had on the local community.

“Ten years ago a wee idea became a reality Dundee Dragons Wheelchair Sports Club was born because I couldn’t find anywhere to play team based wheelchair sport in Tayside on starting back to University of Dundee Medical School after a Spinal Cord Injury induced hiatus.

With some help from Dundee City Disability Sport, The Bradford Bulls Foundation, Scotland Rugby League plus a number of mates who were cajoled into all sorts of roles, from stuffing envelopes to taking snaps, the launch day happened (after it was hastily rescheduled from a fortnight before, when snow meant the Bulls RFL Wheelchair Rugby League team couldn’t make it north!)

Until folk started rolling into Fintry Primary School that chilly Saturday morning I honestly had no idea how it was going to go! People did come though They also had a blast trying Wheelchair Rugby and it became clear there was an appetite for this to be a regular thing in the area

Fast Forward 10 years and we now offer a minimum of 7 hours of sport per week across 7 disciplines, to people of all ages and abilities

From Curling to Cycling, Badminton to Basketball (and of course Rugby!) every week we have folk participating in grassroots adaptive sport just for the joy of taking part, through to those who have pushed themselves to regional, national and international competition

We’ve had fun branching out to try different activities like Skiing, Surfing and Golf, and as well as obtaining SCIO Charity Status We were one of the first disability sports clubs to receive national funding from Sport Scotland (the national agency for sport) for a paid coordinator who could dedicate time each week to breathe the lifechanging fire of Dragons Sport as far as it could reach

It’s been an amazing journey, only made possible by the help of some fantastically dedicated volunteers that I’m now lucky enough to be able to call dear friends

They all make up vital members of the Dragons Family If you can push a manual wheelchair, we can find a sport for you to play If you can give an hour or two a month, we can find a volunteering activity for you to join in with

It’s a win for everyone! Our motto is #AllAboutAbility and we know we change lives Happy Birthday Dundee Dragons here’s to the next 10 years!”

For more information on how you can get involved see www.dundeedragons.net