Perth & Kinross Disability Sport (PKDS) are delighted to be working in partnership with Aberfeldy Plus, Scottish Disability Sport and a number of local community sports clubs to make sport and physical activity accessible in Highland Perthshire so people of all ages with physical, sensory and learning disabilities or additional support needs can get active and enjoy the benefits that sport and physical activity brings.

PKDS Branch Coordinator, Graeme Doig explained “I have always been conscious of the barriers to participation faced by many people in Perth & Kinross due to it’s large geographical size meaning many people living in rural communities find it challenging to engage in weekly sport and physical activity. When I got a call from Jane Carmichael at Aberfeldy Plus, we put our heads together and came up with the PKDS Highland Perthshire Disability Sport Project.

“The project aims are to work with local community clubs to shape the development of new weekly sessions for people of all ages and abilities with physical, sensory and learning disabilities or additional support needs, to encourage more people with disabilities to take part in sport and physical activity and to engage and support local coaches and volunteers in the development and delivery of these sessions.”

The first session was on Sunday, 1^st May at Wades Park in Aberfeldy, delivered by coach Gregor Ross from Aberfeldy Rugby Club and proved to be a huge hit with everyone taking part and parents alike. Jane Carmichael, Aberfeldy Plus told us “It was great fun and everyone enjoyed it. It was really beneficial and a good work out for all, the feedback from the parents and those taking part was really positive” Gregor Ross added “It was brilliant to coach such enthusiastic players, I can’t wait for next week’s session.”

Graeme continued: “Coach Gregor did a fantastic job and made sure everyone was meaningfully included in a range of fun activities whilst coaching the building blocks behind the sport of rugby. The rosy cheeks and smiling faces told it’s own story throughout the session. It truly was a fantastic example of inclusion for all.

“Rugby is just the first of many sports to be delivered as part of the project. Every 4 weeks we will introduce a new sport session to give everyone a range of opportunities to try and to be supported to join the local club for those sports they enjoy. It’s going to be a busy time and over the next few months where we will be delivering Tennis, Bowling, Cricket, Football, Judo, Canoeing, Archery, Nordic Walking, Cycling, Swimming, Climbing, Boccia, Dance and Fitness, all delivered by local coaches and volunteers in the Highland Perthshire area.

“At the end of March, we organised Disability Inclusion Training through Scottish Disability Sport for all the coaches and volunteers involved in the project which was well attended and received.

“PKDS is committed to our No Cost Participation approach which sees all our weekly sessions, development and competitive events, education courses and programs delivered at no cost to the participant. For this project, we would like to thank and acknowledge the Basil Death Trust for funding to make this project happen at no cost to those taking part.”

Every session is open to new people of all ages to come along, give it a go and get involved. No experience is required and all equipment is provided.

Please contact Graeme Doig at graeme@pkds.org.uk for more information and to get involved.

• The Daily Mile, supported by INEOS, is today celebrating its 10th Birthday with a huge global event, bringing together 335,000 children across the globe.
• At an in-person event today in Dundee, Scotland, over 800 children participated in The Daily Mile together.
• While at the same time, a global virtual event took place with 1,340 partner schools – 335,000 children across Europe, U.S., Africa, India taking part in The Daily Mile.
• The Daily Mile is a transformative initiative where children run, jog, wheel or walk for fifteen minutes every day, improving the health, happiness and wellbeing of millions of children.
• Elaine Wyllie, Founder of The Daily Mile, says: “We want to get as many children around the world doing The Daily Mile as possible, so the fact that we’ve been able to do this mass global event with thousands of schools to celebrate our 10th Birthday is a real testament to the enthusiasm behind the initiative and the positive benefits that The Daily Mile has on children’s physical, mental and social health.”

The Daily Mile, supported by INEOS, today celebrated its 10th Birthday with a huge global event that was designed to get as many children and primary schools as possible around the world moving on the same day.

In Dundee over 800 children took part in what was the largest ever mass Daily Mile, in the grounds of a transformed Baxter Park that included a stage, music and guest speakers. The children came from local primary and SEN schools across Dundee.

Guests at Baxter Park included The Daily Mile founder Elaine Wyllie MBE, Public Health Minister Maree Todd, Team Scotland and GB Hockey Player Charlotte Watson, Scotland and GB Team middle distance runner Kane Elliott, GB Paralympian Wheelchair Curler Aileen Nelson as well as other Daily Mile ambassadors.

At the same time, 335,000 children around the world took part in a virtual event – across 1,340 schools in 21 countries from Scotland to New Zealand. Marking the world’s largest Daily Mile event.

The Daily Mile, supported by INEOS, is a transformative initiative where children run, jog wheel or walk for fifteen minutes every day in school, in which time, most people will average a mile or more. The initiative has enjoyed phenomenal success since it was started by then Headteacher Elaine Wyllie just ten years ago at a single primary school in Stirling, Scotland. Today over 3 million children across 14,000 schools in 87 countries globally are now running The Daily Mile.

The initiative believes there is more to be done if we are to provide the opportunity of good health and well-being to all children, wherever they are in the world and its aim for the next ten years is to significantly increase the number of children that are able to enjoy The Daily Mile.

Elaine Wyllie MBE, Founder of The Daily Mile says: “We are so excited to celebrate 10 amazing years of The Daily Mile – what an incredible journey it has been so far, starting from just a simple idea at my school in Scotland to now an essential part of the day in thousands of schools around the world.

“Multiple scientific studies continue to show The Daily Mile improves children’s physical, mental and social health as well as their engagement at school – and today’s event has been a fantastic way to celebrate all we have achieved, thanks to the incredible children, teachers, schools and partners we have worked with other the years who champion our ideals and support our ambition to see every child enjoy the benefits of The Daily Mile.”

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Founder & CEO of INEOS, comments: “INEOS has supported the Daily Mile for years because it’s a free, simple and effective way to improve children’s physical and mental wellbeing. It has been a natural fit for us to work with an initiative that is so passionate about helping more children enjoy exercise more often, and we look forward to its success as it continues to transform more lives around the world.”

Public Health Minister, Maree Todd, said: “I am passionate about the many physical, mental and social benefits the Daily Mile brings and am delighted that this initiative, born in Scotland, is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Dundee.

“As school children from across the world come together to take part in the Daily Mile celebrations I look forward to seeing the impact of this simple and free initiative. I give my thanks to all the school teachers and those involved in providing their communities with the opportunity and support for children to be active each day.

“I am committed to Scotland becoming a Daily Mile Nation and myself really enjoy taking part. Over and above the health benefits it also gives me the opportunity to connect with nature, explore my local environment and meet new people along the way. “I would encourage everyone across the world to join in and take part in the Daily Mile to experience these fantastic benefits.”

Mel Woods writes for SDS about how a welcoming, inclusive environment allowed her to thrive in athletics after acquiring her disability in 2018.

Initially after I acquired my disability in 2018 I was driven to get back in to sport and find something I enjoyed again. I got in touch with Scottish Disability Sport to find out all the options that were available to me. From there I got involved in athletics and tennis. I started by going down to Red Star Athletics Club (Glasgow) and meeting the coaches and athletes within the group. Seeing the range of athletes, their abilities and what they had achieved motivated me to get involved.

I managed to borrow equipment to get started, which was very fortunate as getting access to a chair can often be the hardest part. It can be hard to try something new and know whether you will enjoy it if the equipment is not available, highlighting how important this really is. I was going along to club sessions weekly and then when I got my own chair a few months later, I committed to training twice a day in sight of getting better (I was supported by a couple of different charities to get equipment).

I was lucky to join Red Star and have the support and experience of coaches (Ian Mirfin) who knew the pathway. This ultimately allowed me to know what was required of me in each stage of progressing through the rankings. It was also so important to have athletes within the club to ask questions to – knowing what they had achieved and understanding how they did so. I would recommend to anyone to be put in contact with athletes that have experience in the sport to get a better understanding of competing and equipment. Unlike mainstream/able bodied sports, there is less information out there so having people to speak to is so important. Equipment is a massive part of the sport and finding out what would suit your needs best is a hard task.

I started entering races in my first year of the sport (2019) to get experience and mostly for enjoyment. I was informed about the classification process, getting that organised as soon as I could. After my first year of competing I got on to the British Athletics development academy, offering further contacts and support. I continued finding out more about racing, having people to ask questions to and ultimately point me in the right direction.

I didn’t get much opportunity to compete in 2020, but a few races proved some significantly faster times and allowed me to get on to the British Athletics Futures Academy.

Ultimately I didn’t have any overly specific goals – other than improving. I knew I was a beginner and had a long way to go, but I just focused – and now continuing to focus – on seeing how good I can be. That has all come through a mixture of commitment and dedication to training and having coaches/athletes around to support and guide along the way.. Getting on to the pathway system just gave me confidence that I was moving in the right direction.

Introducing the Inclusive Club Resource E-Learning Module developed by Scottish Disability Sport, aimed at mainstream clubs and activity providers to further their knowledge of creating an inclusive club culture for participants with disabilities.

The purpose of this resource is to support inclusive practice by providing your club with information, tools and resources to offer opportunities to members with disabilities. The resource by no means provides all solutions to challenges you may face, but will give you the confidence and competence to begin to reach out to and welcome members with disabilities to your club and will open the door to further bespoke support for your club.

Throughout this module, learners will have the opportunity to carry out self-reflection, complete short quizzes and surveys, all of which will enable the creation of an action plan to further develop inclusion in all areas of your club.

The module covers the following 9 units:

• Introduction and Overview
• Understanding Inclusive Sport and Physical Activity
• Understanding Inclusive Clubs
• Developing an Inclusive Culture 
• Effective Communication
• Education and Learning
• Partnerships 
• Pathways & Competition

 Access the Inclusive Club Resource E-Learning Module here

Further support is available from Scottish Disability Sport, if you would like to know more information about the resource please contact us – admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com

March is CP Awareness Month, dedicated to raising awareness for the estimated 17 million people worldwide living with cerebral palsy. SDS are keen to encourage those who have Cerebral Palsy to get involved in physical activity and sport, to lead active lives and enjoy the physical, social and psychological benefits that it brings.

One such person who has led the way in CP sport for many years is footballer, Jonny Paterson. ‘JP’ has collected 102 caps for the Scotland CP international team in a long and successful career. We spoke with him about his journey in football from the early years to his record breaking 100th cap and a message to those living with CP who may want to get involved in the sport.

What were your early experiences in football?

JP was obsessed with football since a very young age and like many kids was kicking a ball about as soon as he could. When he was old enough he joined a mainstream club where his dad was in charge of the team and enjoyed playing and developing his talent. At first he found very few barriers, but as he got older he found some obstacles in his path as the standard improved where he felt that some found it ‘difficult for inclusion and the acceptance of disability’. This included not getting into the school team despite being good enough to play, where he felt the coach was scared to manage him. JP believes this is a ‘matter of education’ for coaches and practitioners, which he believes is something that is changing for the better now with a better understanding of inclusive practice.

JP is keen to promote CP football to all those who would qualify to participate, where he feels there is work to be done to get the message out there about the pathway and opportunities to get involved. He mentions how when he moves back into mainstream settings from the Scotland CP squad, there is still an issue in ‘getting the recognition it deserves’ and attaining enough minutes in mainstream football. He recognises there have been thoroughly positive developments, but reports that there is still work to be done.

Tell us about your experience as an International footballer

After initially being recommended to get involved in the Special Olympics when he was a young player, he was ‘quite adamant and stubborn’ about not getting involved and remaining in mainstream football. One day however he looked on the SFA website where he was shown a clip of CP football which caught his interest and after a quick phone call to then Development Officer, Stuart Sharp, he was invited the following week to a training camp. Seeing his talent straight away, it was only a month later that he was turning out internationally for Scotland in the European Championships in Dublin. Describing it as a ‘bit of a whirlwind’ he hasn’t looked back since, demonstrating the potential to move quickly throughout the CP football pathway.

Since then the programme has gone from strength to strength and proved to be an ‘incredible journey and very grateful to have been involved with it for so long’.

Since his first cap, JP has had an incredible career in the sport, competing at 3 Paralympic Games, captaining his country and travelling the world doing what he loves. In that time he has amassed a record breaking 102 caps, with his 100th cap against Northern Ireland last year marked with a goal in a 5-0 win. JP is keen to point out that Scotland’s most capped International player in the mainstream game is Kenny Dalglish, also with 102 caps, and is looking forward to moving ahead of him soon outright as Scotland’s outright most capped player across the sport.

What opportunities are there to get involved in CP football?

JP is keen to promote the opportunities that are out there and increasing all of the time. ‘The pathway is there, it’s just now about putting people in place to find out’.

With the new pathway announced this year for CP footballers (see details below) there are opportunities from participation to performance level to get involved and play football.

JP is keen to see as many avenues targeted as possible to grow the participant base, including in amateur clubs and mainstream schools – similar to his own experience. Once the base is there, the talent pool will grow as he recognises that with himself and others in the squad reaching the twilight of their careers, there is a need to also develop players capable of taking his place too.

?| FOOTBALL FOCUS@CPfootball_SCO is packed with elite athletes and inspiring individuals who have overcome huge life challenges to pull on the Scotland shirt.

We visited the squad to hear about their goal of getting back to the World Cup.

Watch now on BBC iPlayer. ??????? pic.twitter.com/RHWWKwaPdc

— Studio Something (@s0methingsays) January 8, 2022

Message to those who would like to get involved?

JP believes that those who take the opportunity to get involved in CP football will not look back once they take the step to getting involved. He admits that it can be daunting but once you have the confidence in taking a chance then ‘you’ll be made to feel so comfortable straight away’ and no matter your ability level there will be somewhere appropriate you can fit in along the pathway to enjoy playing football.

For those that want to push on and test their talent, JP mentions that there is a real possibility ‘you could represent your country, and who wouldn’t want that playing football?’.

JP has had a brilliant career that has taken him on an ‘adventure of a lifetime’, and whilst getting towards the end of his career he acknowledges that ‘this football team changed my whole world. I wouldn’t take my disability away because it led to so many opportunities.’

If you too would like to experience the life-changing effects of playing the game, then now is the time to get involved.

2022 sees the launch of the CP player pathway in Scotland for players of all ages and ability where you can get involved in the the following:

  Participation Group

  Development Squad

  National Team

If you have CP/Stroke/Acquired Brain Injury we would love to hear from you. Please email: admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com

Day 9 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympic Games witnessed the final action from what has been a successful Games for ParalympicsGB.
Para Alpine Skiing
Neil and Andrew Simpson from Banchory finished in today’s Vision Impaired Men’s Slalom in 9th place to end an incredible Paralympic Winter Games. The brothers became the first British men to win a gold medal on snow with victory in the Super G and quickly followed that up with bronze in the Super Combined. To conclude a wonderful Gamed for the pair, it was announced that they would have the honour of being the ParalympicsGB flagbearers at the Games Closing Ceremony.

BREAKING: The boys from Banchory are announced as Great Britain's flagbearers for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games closing ceremony today. ??

Congratulations, Neil and Andrew Simpson ??#WinterParalympics

— ParalympicsGB (@ParalympicsGB) March 13, 2022

Neil, who is the youngest member of ParalympicsGB squad at 19, said: “Confidence wise this is a huge boost for next season. Skiing wise we have showed what we can do.”
“Coming out to the Games was something pretty special anyway and then we wanted to try and enjoy it.”
“What I have learned is we have nothing to be afraid of at this level of competition. You have the hype and additional pressure but if you can put that to one side you can treat it as just another race.
Para Nordic Skiing
Scotland’s Scott Meenagh and Callum Deboys helped ParalympicsGB sign off from Beijing 2022 in style as they joined Steve Arnold and Steve Thomas to finish in 12th place in a time of 35:27.3 in the inaugural Cross Country Open Relay.
Speaking after the race, Scott said, “Having a relay team on the start line today and a relay team that didn’t include all the athletes we have on the ground is testament to the progression we’ve made.”
“We’ve come on aeons in such a short period of time, every other nation in the world has noticed it as well and it’s something we’re really proud of.”

As the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympic Games come to a conclusion, ParalymicsGB can look back on a Games that produced outstanding performances and a final medal haul of one gold, one silver and four bronze medals. Scottish athletes not only made up 56% of the ParalymicsGB team at the Games but also won 50% of the medals with a gold and two bronze.

Day 8 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympic Games in Beijing saw Scottish athletes representing ParalympicsGB back on the snow.

Para Alpine Skiing
Downhill bronze medal pair Millie Knight and Glasgow’s Brett Wild were back in action in the Vision Impaired Slalom, finishing in 8th place in a time of 1:41.47.
The Slalom also marked the end of Brett’s career as a guide. After a skiing partnership with Millie that began in 2016, the Scot plans to return to his career in the Navy and begin Officer training.
“It’s been such a huge part of my life for the last seven years, and such an amazing, enjoyable experience. It’s nothing short of unbelievable what we have achieved in such a short time, it’s going to be challenging moving on.”

“I’ve lived the dream.” ⛷⛷

End of an era as @BrettWild announces his retirement from Paralympic sport, returning to @RoyalNavy service.

Thank you for everything, Brett. ?#Paralympics pic.twitter.com/TkWufeZNsJ

— ParalympicsGB (@ParalympicsGB) March 12, 2022

Livingston’s Shona Brownlee meanwhile rounded off her debut Paralympic Games with a 9th place finish in the women’s Slalom Sitting event. Shona only began skiing internationally in 2019 and believes the experience she has gained in Beijing will stand her in great stead for the future.
She recovered strongly after falling in her first run, regaining her composure to finish the course and ensure a second outing in the afternoon.
“When I knew I was falling, the only thought in my head was I’m not giving up,” she explained.
“I didn’t come here to give up at the fourth gate, I’m here for the experience and the only way to do that was to get the second run.”
“It’s just been an incredible experience – pretty terrifying at times, so to come out here and get three finishes under my belt – it feels pretty good.”

Para Nordic Skiing
Callum Deboys, Scott Meenagh and Hope Gordon were all back in action in the cross-country middle-distance races.
Following the high of a sixth-place finish in Friday’s biathlon, Scott Meenagh couldn’t quite reproduce the form that took him to his best Paralympic result finishing in 16th place. Callum Deboys finished the race in 21st place.
Competing for the first time over the 7.5km distance, Hope Gordon admitted that despite the soft snow conditions, she was proud of her 16th place 38:01.4 finish after having spent just nine weeks on snow.
“That was hard, I think mash tatties is the word to describe the conditions today, it just felt like ploughing through mash tatties from start to finish,” said Hope.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever done a 7.5km so nothing like being thrown in at the deep end against the best girls in the world at the highest level so I think I can take a bit of pride in just getting round that course.”