A NEW series of health walks are supporting people with additional needs in all sorts of surprising ways.

The Sporting Aces, based in Kirkintilloch, has undergone a complete overhaul to ensure some of its 100 young people it can continue to enjoy access to exercise and engagement within the confines of government guidelines.

New health walks have been introduced since the middle of June, taking place in Woodhead Park, Kirkintilloch, Lenzie Moss, Southbank Marina and Westerton.

Allwyn Crawford, The Sporting Aces founder, said: “Our walks give us many an opportunity to discuss the challenges faced by all our vulnerable beneficiaries – one of these is the wearing of face masks.

“One of our young girls was pictured proudly showing her Face Mask Exempt badge, which when posted on social media, many parents messaged us asking where these could be obtained from.

“Being able to point people in the right direction is all part of the service.

“It’s often the little things that make a big and importance difference.

“The new normal can be frightening for everyone and especially those who are or feel vulnerable, for whatever reason, so we were determined to do what we could to help counter that.

“We’re delighted with the success of the new health walks, boot camps, exercises classes and outdoor dance sessions which we hope will continue to grow so even more people can benefit.”

The charity has also started a new partnership with Dance Boogie Fit to provide outdoor dance classes with local instructor Karen Young, while visits have been made to a number of sites to determine which will be most suitable for socially distant sessions when guidelines allow.

The not-for-profit Sporting Aces, formerly the Tennis Aces and run by volunteers, had seen its free sessions grow from catering for just seven people to more than 120 in five years prior to the pandemic.