Lions rugby players visit Lucca

Rugby balls, smiles, games and Lego challenges were the order of the day at Lucca Support and Care Centre in Blairgowrie.

This because four Xerox Lions rugby players paid a visit on 8 December to spend a morning with the special needs children and hand over signed rugby balls and a T-shirt for auctioning.

Proud parents were as jubilant as their youngsters as they gathered for photos with the professional rugby players – Mark Snyman, Lunga Ncube, Dameon Venter and Sibusiso Sangweni.

The event was sponsored by SDC and their representatives had as much as fun when the photos were done and the rugby players took on youngsters and their parents at Lego building challenges.

They first had to make bridges for a car of a certain size to pass through, with increasingly difficult constraints. Then they did this with their eyes closed, which drew much laughter from the crowd.

When participants had to build towers as high as they could using only a certain number of blocks, some of the youngsters and players surprised all with their dexterity, while others struggled to build their towers very high before they came crashing down.

“So often our children are excluded from events as they are less able to manage big crowds and sensory stimuli,” said Lucca marketing manager, York Heine.

“The generosity of SDC, the Lions players and everyone involved being willing to come into our children’s safe and familiar space surrounded by adults that they trust, allowed them to not have to use the energy to cope but to engage fully in the excitement of the day. They were comfortable to communicate in their own way with the adults’ support and had their happiness communicated into beautiful interactions.”

He said this empowered the children by letting them be part of society.

SDC’s CEO, Daniel Gibhard said he felt proud and priveleged to be part of the event.

“There is no feeling quite like seeing happy children meeting some of their heroes and we are thrilled we could make that happen for them,” he said.

“We wanted the children’s final day of school to be one they would never forget.”