A team of employees from Rosewood Corniche, Jeddah’s luxury hotel, has joined forces with Darrajati, a cycling group, in an awareness initiative as part of their efforts and commitment to support the Jeddah Autism Centre.

A group of 75 volunteers, including Rosewood Corniche staff, Darrajati members, media and children with autism participated in the "Light it up Blue" initiative to mark International Autism Day on April 2.

The group started its journey from Rosewood Corniche and travelled for 90 minutes along six km of Jeddah’s Northern Corniche, before turning at the Tawheed roundabout and arriving back at the hotel’s main entrance.

Hans Peter-Leitzke, MD, Rosewood Corniche said: “This is the third year of our continuous support of Jeddah Autism Centre and these events are always so fulfilling. We were glad to take part in such a fun and educative initiative, and will always do our best to show support and understanding to children with autism and their families.

“Autism is still a relatively unknown condition to many people in the Kingdom, which is why raising awareness about it is so important. Knowledge and compassion is the basis of helping to ease the daily life of an autistic child in Jeddah.”

Research and anecdotal evidence suggests that physical activities can play a role in improving the symptoms, behaviors and quality of life for people with autism.

While exercise is important for all children, it can benefit children with autism, especially because those on the autistic spectrum are at an additional risk of being overweight.