A famous athlete is going to be visiting a school to meet and inspire those who play boccia.

Paralympian Gold Medallist David Smith, who made his Paralympic debut on the British boccia team that won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics, will be meeting pupils in William Howard School, which is in Brampton, who play boccia, a precision ball sport, similar to bocce, and related to bowls and pétanque.

Boccia is perhaps a relatively unknown, or unreported on sport, however it has been a part of the Paralympics since the 1984 Summer Paralympics, also known as the 1984 International Games for the Disabled, which took place in New York City.

He competed for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and did so winning Bronze in the Team BC1–2, and Silver in the BC1 individual event watched by a record Boccia crowd at the Excel arena.

David competed for Paralympics GB for a third time in Rio where he won Gold in the individual BC1 event for the first time in his career.

In doing so, David has become the joint most successful British Boccia player in history.

David is now the holder of three Paralympic Gold Medals, after winning at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, making him the most decorated British Boccia player in history and the first BC1 to defend a Paralympic title.

He is due to visit William Howard School on Friday, December 10.

One of William Howard School's Sixth Form pupils, Connor Dixon, has recently won the Under 18 Open Boccia Championship in Napier University in Edinburgh.

He won all his matches and came away with Gold.

A spokesperson from William Howard School said: "Connor trains every Saturday at a club in Annan and this is the result of his hard work since returning to training when Covid restrictions were eased.