Refugees at an Erskine hotel will soon be getting to grips with a popular martial art.
Clyde Judo Club will be hosting a 12-week programme at the Muthu Glasgow River Hotel, where asylum seekers are being housed.
The project aims to integrate refugees into the judo community and assist them in finding local clubs that offer stability through the sport when they are resettled.
Susan Wright, head coach at Clyde Judo Club, said those taking part in the programme would be taught basic judo moves.
She told The Gazette: "Over the 12-week period, we hope to get them to the first grade.
"We don't know yet how many refugees are taking part but it's probably going to be a maximum of around 25.
"As it will be mostly men taking part, we've got really good male coaches who are going to come along to deliver the project.
"It will probably be David Peden who will deliver most of it, who is a really excellent head coach at Glasgow University Judo Club."
The project is one of several initiatives taking place across the Scottish judo community that aim to empower and positively impact the lives of refugees.
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Susan said: "It's very important to do this because these people have come from far away and arrived with absolutely nothing.
"They need to be helped to integrate to wherever they are going to be and judo is a fantastic way of doing that.
"Wherever they end up, they can go and find a local judo club and it will be instantly somewhere where they belong.
"I feel like my judo club is part of my family."
Clyde Judo Club is a volunteer-led community club based in Clark Street, Paisley, that offers classes to people of all ages.
The group also offer two classes for youngsters at Bishopton Community Centre on Friday evenings.
Susan added: "During Covid 2.0, we built our own permanent dojo in Paisley because none of our venues reopened after the first lockdown.
"We have around 170 students right now, which coming from scratch has been really good."
For more information about Clyde Judo Club, visit clydejudo.org.uk.
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