AN ATHLETICS club in Yate has been offering four to five sessions a week for those with special needs. 

Watching the elite at the Olympics?  Now following the achievement at the Para Olympics in Paris?

Closer to home, the next generation of competitors are developing.

Since 2021, Yate Athletics Club has offered open sessions for all those with special needs (intellectual, sensory and physical) four to five times a week.

The club have six coaches - two with disabilities - and a sports therapist. 

A spokesperson said: "We have a wide range of equipment – racing wheelchairs, specialist running frames, and equipment for seated throwing.

"Now we have athletes competing at national level, regional and local competitions across the country – from Manchester, Birmingham, Coventry, Stoke Mandeville, Bristol, Gloucester, Yeovil and even Yate itself.

"We provide sessions for a wide age range and for many different special needs. We offer physiotherapy and rehabilitation programmes.

"Our approach is to “respect the individual and adapt the activity.”

Their main training session is on Friday evenings at Yate Outdoor Sports Complex from 5pm to 7.30pm.