Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) welcomed Elizabeth Lochhead as the new senior administrator, in late January.

By William Moncrieff, Communications Apprentice

Elizabeth comes with a wealth of knowledge, having previous worked in administration at Forestry and Land Scotland. She first became aware of the opportunity at SDS through former SDS employee Sharon MacDowell, who encouraged her to apply.

Although the job and its tasks are not entirely new for Elizabeth, she is embracing this “new challenge” and said, “It will be something new to get my teeth in to”.

As she settles in to the role, she is interested to developing her understanding of boccia.

“I am really interested in Boccia. I’ve been speaking to Jonathan (Boccia Development officer) who is in the office quite a lot and so I am keen to attend one of the boccia events.”

Elizabeth explains that she is into sports and exercising. This is evidenced by Elizabeth planning on completing the West Highland Way from Milngavie to Fort William later this year. It was originally seen as an opportunity to explore more of the country and to keep fit and healthy. However, she has now decided to fundraise for SDS after noticing, “How passionate they all are about fundraising”.

One task in her new role that Elizabeth is really looking forward to is adapting the website, to make it more user friendly for those who are less confident using a computer. She hopes that this development will result in more people being able to access the information online and attend events.

This is something that Elizabeth is keen to help further with. By developing her skillset in using new systems and procedures, she will be able to help others sign up for events or workshops. She said, “It’s something we can help with. We can make sure kids aren’t losing out because they don’t have the amenities to sign-up”.

Elizabeth views part of her role as being, “very visual in the office”. She aspires to be a helping hand to anyone in the organisation and anyone trying to contact Scottish Disability Sport.

By William Moncrieff, Communications Apprentice

On World Radio Day (13th February) SDS celebrates the essential service that radio stations provide globally, particularly to the blind and partially sighted community.

One of these fantastic radio stations is The Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) and their station Connect radio (RNIB Connect). They explain that: “RNIB Connect started in 2003 and we have just finished celebrating our 20th anniversary, with an aim to provide an entertaining range of essential information in an easily accessible format to our listeners.”

RNIB Connect is broadcast, “to an audience of blind and partially sighted people across the UK, on Freeview 730”.

The Connect radio team believe that their services are relevant and accurate by providing insight from first hand knowledge and experience: “Our presenters are blind or partially sighted”  and they talk, “to dozens of people from the sight loss community each week, ensuring our content is informed by lived experience”.

In a fast-paced, digital world, radio remains relevant and plays a significant role in society.

“Connect Radio provides an important and entertaining service to a community which can be hard to reach, is potentially isolated and is traditionally under serviced with information and opportunities”.

The Team at Connect Radio believe that they offer a supportive service to members of their targeted community: “People who have sight loss, particularly those who have recently lost some or all of their sight, often have considerable problems accessing important information both about their condition and in life more generally. In addition, the stereotypes that exist in society about what people with sight loss can do and more acutely the assumptions of what they can’t”.

They continued to say, “It’s impossible to overstate the significance of hearing from other people who are going through similar experiences and to know, you are not alone”.

In being inclusive, “RNIB Connect Radio provides blind and partially sighted people with a platform to share their stories, where they can talk about their challenges but also share their general experiences, aspirations and life hacks with other listeners”.

“RNIB Connect Radio is a crucial tool in the RNIB’s armoury of supporting blind and partially sighted people and offers an easily accessible window into all types of information, services, opportunities and support”, they said.

Tune in to the RNIB Connect Radio at 730 Freeview or via their website for international listening. 

By Grace | Member of the 2023-2026 Young Persons Sport Panel

This past weekend (10th – 11th February) was the first residential for the 2023-2026 YPSP (Young Persons Sport Panel) cohort. In this day and age, with so many online meetings, it was also one of the first times many of us had met in-person.

The first thing we did when we all arrived to Inverclyde was a SAMH workshop with Kirsty and Robert. This got a lot of interesting conversations going; our panel is really good at being open and honest, which is such a valuable skill for us all to have.

The peer mentors then ran their icebreaker – based off the TV gameshow, The Cube. This was our first real chance to mingle and have a laugh with our fellow panel members. Thankfully there were no arguments over the ridiculously hard tasks, though we did all enjoy with SDS staff struggling more than us! Later on, the peer mentors also talked to us about their experiences of being on the previous panels. I found this really beneficial, and it made me excited for the next 2 years. We heard all about the opportunities we will be given, and the changes we can make to our communities.

We then went around in groups and reviewed Inverclyde National Sports Centre for Euan’s Guide. Whilst we had our evaluating hats on, it was also good to get moving and get a sense of where we will be staying. Most of us had a very positive first impression of Inverclyde. From welcoming staff to smooth floors and lift access (great for wheelchair users) and floor to ceiling windows creating a spacious atmosphere, with lovely views to the surrounding Largs nature, Inverclyde earned a full five stars from us!

From there we had a wee break to play Boccia. Being the most inclusive sport, this was the perfect choice for the YPSP.

It was then time to venture out to the beach and (more importantly) Tony Macaroni’s and ice cream at Nardini’s. A residential tradition for SDS, this provided yet another opportunity to chat to some new friends and to refuel after our busy day.

Then came this most exciting activity – trampolining! If asked, majority would say this was be the highlight of the residential! There was lots of jumping, leaping and relaxing. Also a lot of falling over and flailing about in foam pits; not the best for our athletes with competition season coming up!

After some rest and recuperation in our rooms for the night, it was time for day two. After catching up over breakfast, we split into our sub-groups and brainstormed some ideas for 2024. I am really excited about our upcoming plans and seeing just how far we can go.

After a short break, William and Emma delivered some social media and content training. With social media being such a big deal these days, it was great to learn about this useful tool. It was especially helpful to learn about how you can make social media more accessible through alt (alternative) text and other practices.

We finished off the day with some First Aid training from Kevin. We covered CPR, defibrillators, recovery position, bandaging wounds and epi pens. Everybody got stuck in and enjoyed themselves. What great skills these are for us to take into the future, especially in a sporting environment.

A Quick Recap of some of January’s Highlights

By Emma Logan, Communications Manager

It is time for January to bow out, as February waits in the wings. Here’s a quick recap of some of January’s top moments. 

Sport –  

There was a lot to cheer about in January as sporting events took off.  

Gordon Reid made headlines in Australia as he won his fifth consecutive men’s wheelchair tennis doubles title with teammate, Alfie Hewett.  More here.

Also representing Scotland on the court in Australia, was Young Persons Sport Panel member, Aidan Moody. Moody took part in the AOPWII championships and put in an ace performance, leaving Melbourne with a runners-up trophy from the double’s tournament. Stay tuned for the full review. 

Court action continued in Midlothian as Dalkeith School hosted the National Badminton Championships. A full review will be made available soon on Badminton Scotland Disability’s social media.  

Falling on the same Saturday (27th) was British Blind Sport’s ‘Have a Go’ day, at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow. Participants were given the opportunity to try out judo, athletics, curling, tennis and goalball.  

Education –  

SDS has been working with several Scottish Governing Bodies and organisations, to put inclusivity at the heart of their activities. This includes (but is not limited to), Pickleball Scotland and Cricket Scotland who are working in partnership with SDS to embed inclusive practice and DIT (Disability Inclusion Training) in certain courses and workshops.  

SDS is also supporting Scottish Gymnastics to embed inclusion into their new Baby Gym course. 

SDS has made good progress with the marking instructions for Nat 5 PE Boccia performance. Once completed, it will enable those with more severe physical disabilities to access qualification level PE. SDS hopes to repeat this procedure with Higher PE in due course. 

A benchmarking tool that could be used by SGBs to measure their impact in disability sport was under discussion at the Disability Sports Coaching and Education Group: Scotland meeting, which SDS hosted. Scottish Students Sport (SSS), sportscotland, Scottish Sports Association (SSA), Scottish Athletics and Scottish Sports Futures (SSF) were all present.  

Health –  

GOGA Tayside’s women’s Yoga class continues to gain popularity in 2024.  

The sessions provide a safe and fully inclusive environment for women to participate in physical activity regardless of age, ability, religion, culture and confidence.  

GOGA (Get Out Get Active) provides opportunities for everyone to explore how physical activity can work for them. You can find out more about GOGA’s yoga classes here and if you have any questions, you can contact GOGA here.  

By LTA | Tennis for Britain

Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid won their fifth successive Australian Open men’s wheelchair doubles title on Friday (26th) as Andy Lapthorne completed another tremendous day for British wheelchair tennis and players supported by the LTA’s Elite Wheelchair Programme as he partnered the USA’s David Wagner to their fifth Australian Open quad doubles title in 10 years.

Both partnerships had to come through two matches in a day after Thursday’s rain in Melbourne caused their semi-finals to be postponed, with Hewett and Reid defeating Daisuke Arai and Takashi Sanada 6-3, 6-3 in the second successive Australian Open semi-final between the two pairings.

The men’s doubles title decider saw the record-breaking partnership of Hewett and Reid contest their 17th final in 18 Grand Slams as they took on Takuya Miki and Tokito Oda, the same Japanese partnership they beat in three sets  in front of 10,000 fans in the 2023 Wimbledon final. But this time Hewett and Reid completed victory in straight sets, wrapping up their 19th Grand Slam title together 6-3, 6-2.

Hewett, who will now play Oda in Saturday’s men’s singles final, said: “Some of the points in that match really displayed the best of wheelchair tennis. The best bit about it is you feel the love and the excitement from the crowd as well. Like, you can tell they’re getting into the match.”

With the Brits supported by many of their regular teams of supporters from Norfolk and Scotland as they earned their two victories on Margaret Court Arena and Kia Arena, Reid added:

“There were some relatives and some Scots out there. Some of them have just flown over yesterday for this match. Obviously it was great to have them there. My parents are out here as well. It was my dad’s first time at the Australian Open. Hopefully he enjoyed himself today and enjoyed that match.”

Lapthorne’s victory alongside Wagner in the quad doubles final was especially poignant after he missed an uncle’s funeral during his bid for a 17th career Grand Slam title and his ninth Grand Slam title alongside Wagner.

The Anglo-American duo beat second seeds Australian Heath Davidson and Canada’s Robert Shaw for just the second time in six matches as they took their semi-final 6-3, 6-2 before later returning to Margaret Court Arena to beat South Africa’s Donald Ramphadi and Guy Sasson of Israel 6-4, 3-6, (10-2).

Lapthorne said:

“It’s 10 years this week since we one our first one and we’ve somehow managed to do it again, so big thanks to David. I lost my uncle about three or four days before I came out here, so that one’s for him.  

“(During the match) I played probably one of the best 10-15 minutes of tennis that I’ve ever played at a Grand Slam, in terms of just not missing a ball and feeling really confident.”