Celtic Park will welcome some very special guests this Saturday, March 18, as the Club marks the European wide Centre for Access to Football in Europe (CAFE) week of Action, to promote the importance of access to football and society for people with disabilities.

Kids from St. Roch’s Primary and Deaf School in Glasgow have been working hard to create a magnificent sign language performance of one of Celtic’s greatest anthems, 'You’ll Never Walk Alone'.

The children work with the BSL (British Sign Language) in their everyday lives and their fantastic work and interpretation of the Celtic classic will be shown on the Celtic Park big screens before Saturday’s match against Hibernian.

Alexis Dobbin, Celtic’s Disability Access Officer, said: “We were delighted to welcome the children from St. Roch’s to Celtic Park. They had a fantastic time practicing and performing the song and we're sure they will be really proud when it is shown to supporters on Saturday.

"We hope this initiative will really shine a light on kids who face real challenges in their everyday lives, but who tackle these with such determination and positivity. In association with CAFE, the week of Action is hugely important to us as a club, allowing us all to think about the importance of allowing access for all to football.”

To mark the CAFE Week of Action, Celtic and Hibernian players will also walk through a very special Guard of Honour on Saturday with some of our young supporters there to welcome the teams on to the park and promote access for all.

CAFE, which is funded by UEFA as a Corporate & Social Responsibility partner, estimates that at least 500,000 disabled people within the extended UEFA European region are likely to be active football supporters with many more aspiring to become match-going supporters.

Disabled people have the right to enjoy football, sports and all forms of entertainment in the same way as everyone else. This applies to football at all levels.

More and more disabled football supporters wish to travel to football matches and tournaments both at home and abroad. As access improves, more and more disabled people will feel able to attend major tournaments alongside their fellow supporters.

By inspiring many more disabled people to attend live matches and to get involved in local volunteering activities, CAFE aims to stimulate social inclusion, encourage interaction between citizens and contribute to intercultural learning and bring to the fore both Europe’s diversity and unity.

Celtic has previously been honoured by CAFE for its work in promoting access for all, where the Club and the Celtic Disabled Supporters' Association (CDSA) were presented with a special Collaboration Award - to mark an ongoing commitment to the delivery of facilities and initiatives promoting access and inclusion.

'As a club for everyone, Celtic has worked closely with CAFE in recent years and shares this important vision of access for all.'

As well as significant work undertaken in recent years, the club recently launched a special lanyard for supporters who are affected by a hidden disability.

The lanyard with a design unique to the Club has been launched in the hope that those who choose to wear them (much like the Sunflower lanyard), will be able to achieve improved support at Celtic Park both on a match day and non-match day, with staff seeing the lanyard being aware that our supporters may require additional assistance. Our work in this area will continue to progress at Celtic.

Celtic captain Callum McGregor said. "It's great that the kids from St. Roch’s have worked so hard to create this great signing of You’ll Never Walk Alone and it will be great to see our young guests on the pitch too before the match. I know that our supporters will give this initiative a huge reception on Saturday.

“It is very important that we continue to work together and keep real focus on this issue. Celtic will always be open to everyone. Celtic Park offers one of the best sporting experiences possible and we want everyone to be able to share in this and be part of our Club.

“I know the Club has carried out great work recently in this area and that we are totally committed to making sure that we have a club accessible to everyone."

Celtic Park welcomes a very special new ‘signing’ as the Club celebrates the CAFE Week of Action