THE Dumbarton Day Centre and Community Connections joined forces to put on an event for those in the area with additional support needs.

The two charities combined to put on a fun day for service users and their families/carers last week, twinned with the start of EURO 2024.

As well as visits from Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, there were activities such as football, dancing, karaoke and the opportunity to play with Alpacas.

And Lynn O'Donnell, manager of both the centre and Community Connections, opened up on the importance of hosting such an event.

"We were looking for something to link both Community Connections and Dumbarton Day Centre," she said.

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"We have not been really able to get the two teams together or put on any fun events since the coronavirus pandemic.

"We thought this was an ideal opportunity to have a fun event.

"The staff team would say it has been stressful but I have an amazing team.

"They go the extra mile for all the service users, they are really resourceful and I couldn’t do it without them.

"They are really great at taking on ideas.

"It took a lot of organising, as well as coordination and planning, but I think everyone enjoyed themselves."

Lynn, who has been involved with the Dumbarton Day Centre for the last six years, explained how great it was to reunite everyone after the pandemic.

"It is immense to see how much this event means to everyone," she continued.

"It has taken everyone a long time to adjust after Covid and it has been quite overwhelming, in a good way, to see everyone enjoying themselves.

"It was really nice for the carers to be able to see each other as well as they do not usually get that opportunity and it was great to see them exchanging stories.

"I hope in the future we will be able to plan more events like this to get everyone together again as it has been a great atmosphere."