The Motability Scheme and Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) will now work side by side after strengthening their partnership, to expand sporting opportunities for people with a disability across Scotland.

SDS has relocated its operations to Forthstone, Edinburgh, where it will work alongside Motability Operations, the organisation that runs the Motability Scheme. The move marks the beginning of a renewed partnership agreement to help break down barriers to participation in sport for people with a disability.

As part of the agreement, the Motability Scheme will sponsor a range of SDS’s
initiatives in 2025, including:

• Education and Training opportunities for schools, universities and volunteers & coaches across Scotland.
• Ten Parasport festivals, scheduled later this year, offering young people with a disability the chance to try a variety of sports in a fun, inclusive, and supportive environment.
• SDS’s National Exhibition event, which is taking place at the University of Stirling on Saturday 14 June this year.

These events open up life-changing opportunities to participants, both young and old, by helping to build their confidence and connecting them with peers who share similar experiences and show that it is never too late to engage in activity and move a little more every day.

By combining resources and expertise, Motability Operations and SDS are committed to increasing awareness of the opportunities offered by both organisations. Their partnership will spotlight the transformative impact of the Motability Scheme in improving mobility for its customers while encouraging greater participation in disability sport across Scotland.

Gavin Thomson, Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director Scotland Motability Operations said: “Sport has the power to break down barriers and open up new possibilities for everyone. Our partnership with SDS reflects our shared commitment to improving access to sport and mobility. Our ambition is to ensure that people with disabilities in Scotland have the opportunity to live healthy and active lives, and to strive for sporting greatness.”

Through their new base at Forthstone, SDS will have access to shared facilities, including meeting spaces, as well as the opportunity for increased collaboration with the Motability Operations team, strengthening their ability to deliver impactful programmes.

Gavin MacLeod, CEO of Scottish Disability Sport said: “Our partnership with Motability Operations has brought great benefits to both organisations over the past year and we are pleased to strengthen it further.

“Scotland’s sporting landscape is facing significant resource challenges. Now more than ever, partnerships like this are crucial in ensuring that people with a disability continue to have access to life-changing opportunities in sport.”

This partnership signals a long-term commitment to removing barriers to participation in sport for Scots with a disability. Whether through sponsorship, shared expertise, or improved facilities, Motability Operations and SDS are continuing to work together to create a more inclusive sporting landscape by changing culture and behaviours through quality education and training experiences alongside providing extensive sport and physical activity opportunities in collaboration with local and national partners.

The Glasgow 2026 Organising Company has announced (Thursday 6th) the medal event programme for the 23rd Commonwealth Games, with Para sport, Track Cycling and Swimming set for the most extensive medal event programmes in Commonwealth Games history.

The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games will take place on Thursday 23 July to Sunday 2 August 2026 and will feature a 10-sport programme concentrated across four venues within an eight-mile corridor of the city, with over 200 gold medals up for grabs across the 10 days of sporting competition.

Glasgow 2026 will showcase a fully integrated Para sport programme across six of the ten sports, with a Commonwealth Games record 47 medal events in Para disciplines.
The action-packed sporting programme will take place at the Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, Scottish Exhibition Centre (SEC), Scotstoun Stadium and Tollcross International Swimming Centre, with the 10 sports on the schedule comprising:

• Artistic Gymnastics
• Athletics and Para Athletics
• 3×3 Basketball and 3×3 Wheelchair Basketball
• Boxing
• Swimming and Para Swimming
• Bowls and Para Bowls (indoor)
• Judo
• Netball
• Track and Para Track Cycling
• Weightlifting and Para Powerlifting

The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome is set to see a very busy and full programme of racing, as
Glasgow hosts the biggest Track Cycling programme ever seen at a Commonwealth Games. The Track Cycling programme will see 26 medal events in total across Para and non Para disciplines. The Para Track Cycling programme has doubled in size from Birmingham 2022, with eight medals available, including the C1-C3 (men) and C4-C5 (women) Time Trials and Individual Pursuits for the first time.

The Tollcross International Swimming Centre will also see a jam-packed schedule as
Glasgow 2026 prepares for the most extensive swim programme in Commonwealth Games history, with 56 medal events in total across both Para and non Para competition. In a Games’ first, the men’s 800m Freestyle and women’s 1500m Freestyle races will be included.

In Scotstoun, World Athletics has made an innovative change to the athletics competition
with the return of the Commonwealth Mile. Last run in 1966, the Mile race, which will be run on the track, is a nod to the ‘The Miracle Mile’ at the Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, Canada in 1954, when England’s Roger Bannister and Australian John Landy – the only two sub-four-minute runners in the world at the time – went head to head only two months after Bannister became the first athlete to run a sub-four minute mile.

The Athletics programme has also been adapted to encourage strength and depth of
competition across all 74 territories, with the Mixed 4x400m relay included. It is also the first time in the history of the Commonwealth Games that Para Athletics will see athletes competing in jumping, throwing and track events, with all three disciplines being included on the programme for the first time.

Over on the Basketball court, the huge success of the 3×3 programme in Birmingham has seen the 3×3 Wheelchair Basketball competitions for men and women extend from six teams to eight and 3×3 Basketball competitions for men and women extend from eight teams to 12.

Chief Executive of Glasgow 2026, Phil Batty OBE, said “What makes the Commonwealth Games so special to so many is its fully integrated sport programme. I am proud that Glasgow 2026 will see the biggest Para sport medal event programme in Games’ history and will play such an important role in growing, supporting and championing Para sport.

“Glasgow 2026 is a bridge to the Commonwealth Games of tomorrow and we have a clear vision that it will be brilliantly different. The huge Track Cycling and Swimming programmes, alongside the return of the Mile in Athletics, a wealth of disciplines introduced to the Games for the first time across the Para Athletics, Para Track Cycling and Para Swimming programmes, not to mention the increase in 3×3 Basketball and 3×3
Wheelchair Basketball teams, makes the Glasgow 2026 sporting programme a really exciting prospect for fans and athletes alike.

“I’m confident that with action-packed programmes across all four venues in the city, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Glasgow 2026 is set to be a world-class sporting celebration, filled with passion, fun, and outstanding sport!”

Chief Executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Katie Sadleir CNZM, said: “This compelling medal event programme continues the red thread of innovation that is a key component of Glasgow 2026’s compelling concept – in terms of sports formats and disciplines, the compact number of sports, and concentrated number of existing venues.

“We are thrilled to see such an exciting medal programme for the Commonwealth Games that will be sure to delight and excite fans attending in-person or watching at home across each day of competition.

“With more Para sport medals than ever before in the Games, Glasgow 2026 promises to be a truly inclusive festival of sport and celebration of culture and diversity that inspires our athletes.”

Scottish Paralympic and World champion C3 cyclist, Fin Graham, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to see such a strong Cycling programme announced for Glasgow 2026, with greater Para sport integration than ever before.

“On a personal level, to have my category and events included is unbelievable – ever since Glasgow 2014 I’ve wanted to ride at the Commonwealth Games, and hopefully next year I’ll get that chance. To do it in front of a Scottish crowd, on the velodrome where I learnt to ride the track, will be even more special.”

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said, “The mile is the quintessential Commonwealth athletics event whose return to the Games in Glasgow 2026 I very much welcome.

“From 1930 through to 1966, the mile was the blue riband event of each Games and the
magic of the mile continues to resonate with sports fans. A ticket to watch its Commonwealth final will be one of the must have seats in Glasgow next year.”

The full medal event programme is available via: www.glasgow2026.com

Please note that the Boxing medal event programme is due to be confirmed later this year. To find out more about Glasgow 2026 visit: www.glasgow2026.com