blind kids and other disabilities

[Ianbrownlee]

Thanks for your input guys however I think we are straying from the initial point I was trying to gauge the type of support and costs for all disabilities and as a starting point I was trying to find out how many disabled people we have in our ranks and what types of disability we have. An extreme example would be buying 10 braille sets if we only have 5 people who require them. We also need to know what resources we already have and what resources we need. Like it or not if we don't have this information then a logistics exercise in collating these facts. Perhaps our disability officer could take the lead and get this information for us.

I'm also not sure about buying chess equipment unless it could be leased out on hire. I'm not advocating making a fast buck but a measure of control could be implemented on its use and distribution.

Finally I am wondering if the possession of such equipment could be used as an inroad to established institutions such as blindcraft and local authorities in a bid to generate interest in Chess in general. If we are seen to be participating in this and other areas such as chess in schools, then maybe grants may become more readily available. Remember we are the officially FIDE- recognised chess organisation in Scotland. It would be great if we were seen to be more proactive in chess promotion in Scotland