​A special dog is helping a Yorkshire youngster to tackle the challenges in their life, thanks to a grant from the Yorkshire Young Achievers Foundation.

Six-year-old Cohen Hadfield of Rotherham has been given a grant towards a Support Dog which will help with his day-to-day life.

The Yorkshire Young Achievers Foundation distributes funds raised by the annual Yorkshire Young Achievers Awards, sponsored by McCormicks Solicitors.

The Foundation was formed in 2010 to support young people in the region to achieve their potential and makes grants to individuals and projects. Vice-chairman Richard Stroud said: “We were impressed by the efforts the family made to raise money for the Support Dogs and by how much difference having a support dog could make to their lives.”

Cohen has been matched up with his dog by the Sheffield-based Support Dogs charity to help him to deal with difficult situations and to stay safe. Cohen has a Golden Retriever/Labrador cross, Azerley, who is already making a huge difference to the family.

In addition to autism, Cohen also has developmental delay, along with hearing impairment and complex epilepsy. He has no sense of danger and will run on to roads to avoid social situations. At the moment he has to sit in a special needs pushchair for his safety when he is outdoors but the family has already made some short shopping trips with Azerley and have found a huge difference in Cohen who has remained calm and walked with the dog. His mum, Sarah, said: “Being able to see Cohen do that is just fantastic! He would have run into the road but instead he just walked with Azerley and stayed on the pavement.”

She hopes having Azerley means that the family will be able to do things as a whole family, for example going to the park, which has not been possible before.

​​A young disabled sportsman has upgraded his wheelchair, thanks to a grant from the Yorkshire Young Achievers Foundation.

Joshua Gardner, 18, plays wheelchair basketball and rugby and needed a stronger, lighter and more reliable chair to progress.
Josh, who lives in Halton, Leeds, has seen great success in both sports, and heads to the Wheelchair Rugby Four Nations Cup next weekend (13 & 14 September) as first reserve.

He plays for the Leeds Rhinos WRL team, scoring around 20 points last season, and was also part of the Irish World Cup rugby team last year.

His Four Nations role comes hot on the heels as player/coach for England North at basketball in the UK School Games, where he helped the team win Silver last weekend.

He said: “My new chair is brilliant and arrived at the right time as I played in the National Basketball Championships just after it came. I wish I had had it in time for the Four Nations trials as it has also helped a lot with my rugby!”

Josh had little interest in sport as an able-bodied youngster but at the age of nine he contracted transverse myelitis, a neurological disorder caused by inflammation of the spinal cord, and began to use a wheelchair. His interest in sport grew, as did his success, and he hopes to make even greater progress with his new chair, aiming at making the team for the European Rugby Championships next year.
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Away from sport, Josh has just begun an apprenticeship as a Broadcast Assistant with BBC Radio Leeds.