Category: Regional News

21/01/2022

Adapted Cycling in Grampian Given Major Funding Boost

Grampian Disability Sport is excited to be moving forward with plans to grow and develop adapted cycling across the region thanks to a generous grant.

The Branch will receive £90,000 from the Big Lottery Fund’s Community Fund over the next 3 years, which will enable them to employ a part-time Cycling Coordinator to carry out the Branch’s plan of developing Adapted Cycling Bothies in local communities across Grampian. It is hoped that by developing these Bothies, appropriate bikes can be placed close by to those who need them, removing a barrier for becoming more active and encouraging people with disabilities to get out and about in their communities.

The funding will also allow the purchase of additional equipment and enable volunteer mechanics and ride leaders to be trained up to ensure the sustainability of the programme.

If you, or anyone you know, lives with a physical, sensory or learning disability in Grampian or Shetland & is interested in getting involved in sport, please get in touch with Alison on alison.shaw@scottishdisabilitysport.com or 07828 744 848.

21/01/2022

West of Scotland Disability School Sports Festivals

Scottish Disability Sport, City of Glasgow College & Glasgow Disability Sport would like to invite pupils from
P5- S6 to attend our upcoming events in February & March.

Venue: City of Glasgow City Campus
Times: 11am-2pm

21 February: West of Scotland Wheelchair Basketball Festival | Book your place
28 February: West of Scotland Racket Sports Festival | Book your place
14 March: West of Scotland Boccia Festival | Book your place

For more information contact:

nancy.peters@glasgowdisabilitysport.org – 07714989708
andrew.mackenzie@scottishdisabilitysport.com – 07496306249

19/01/2022

Tayside Parasport Festival 2022

We are delighted to announce details for the upcoming Scottish Disability Sport Tayside Parasport Festival 2022

Date: Wednesday 2nd March 2022 – Land based sports

Time: 10.00am – 2.15pm (9.45am arrival and registration)

Venue: Dundee & Angus College, Gardyne Campus, Gardyne Road, Dundee, DD5 1NY

And

Date: Saturday 5th March 2022 – Water based sports

Time: 10.15am – 12.15pm (10.00am arrival and registration)

Venue: Perth Leisure Pool, Glover Street, Perth, PH2 0TH

The Parasport Festival is designed to introduce pupils from mainstream schools with a physical, visual or hearing impairment, aged P1-S6 to try new and exciting sports. It has been identified that these individuals are significantly under-represented when it comes to participating in weekly sport or physical activity. The activities selected reflect the strong club structure in the region and the key impact of the event is to provide a multisport opportunity to these pupils, identify talented individuals within specific sports, alongside channelling pupils onto local, regional club programmes and sessions.

We would like to welcome back all pupils who have attended in the past, alongside engaging new pupils to attend for their first experience. Please watch our ‘Get Involved’ video which highlights the aims and impact of the event featuring testimonies from young people, parents, club coaches and professional officers.

The festival is a partnership event between Scottish Disability Sport, Active Schools, Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross Disability Sport Branches, Scottish Governing Bodies of Sport along with local community club coaches, to offer sessions in badminton, boccia, powerchair football, wheelchair basketball, athletics, judo, football, goalball, fencing and wheelchair rugby to young people across Tayside. This year will also see the introduction of a second day offering swimming and kayaking.

Booking information

How to apply

Please register for either day or both, any queries, please contact Graeme on 07999544549

Day 1 at Dundee & Angus College – https://sds.justgo.com/workbench/public/events?ref=878231D344D4ECCA4AA67B75168D280176E94A22

Day 2 at Perth Leisure Pool – https://sds.justgo.com/workbench/public/events?ref=6597BDF9116F45EB9D010B41D0761B815476EAE0

If you have any questions or would like to find out more about the event or disability sport in Tayside, please contact:

Graeme Doig – SDS Regional Development Manager for Tayside – graeme.doig@scottishdisabilitysport.com / Phone: 07999544549.

12/01/2022

Forth Valley Disability Sport Virtual Regional Boccia Event 2021

Forth Valley Disability Sport Virtual Regional Junior Boccia Event was held between Friday 12th November to Friday 10th December 2021. 96 pupils from 8 primary and 1 secondary school from the Forth Valley area participated in the event.

All competitors had a great time and really enjoyed the event. FVDS would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that helped to allow the event to be such a success. Head Teachers, PE staff and Support staff in schools , Active School staff from the three local authority areas Active Stirling, Falkirk Community Trust, Clackmannanshire Council and Scottish Disability Sport.

Many of the entrants have been training for the event by practicing their skills at schools with peers. Competitors were able to compete individually and in teams of three.

Forth Valley Disability Sport hopes to run a regional face to face Boccia Championship when guidance allows.

Graham Harvey FVDS Branch Coordinator said “Forth Valley Disability Sport is delighted with Virtual Boccia participant numbers and will look at a hybrid sport event programme throughout 2022. Many thanks must go to the three local authority areas and Scottish Disability Sport for supporting the event.”

All competitors received a participation certificate from Forth Valley Disability Sport.

If you or anyone you know of any age is interested in attending Boccia sessions or would like to help volunteer within FVDS then telephone Forth Valley Disability Sport on 01786 466486.

06/01/2022

Adapted Cycling Given Boost in Shetland

Cycling for people with disabilities in Shetland has been given a boost thanks to funding from the Scottish Government.

Ability Shetland, Scottish Disability Sport’s newest Branch, was awarded £15,000 from the Healthy Islands Fund to enable them to further develop their efforts in adapted cycling provision.

The funding will enable Ability Shetland to purchase additional bikes to add to their fleet. In turn, they’ll be able to accommodate more people and cater to a wider range of disabilities within their regular sessions.

Well done to the Ability Shetland team.

Photo credit: Ability Shetland

22/10/2021

Try para-badminton ahead of the Scottish Open Finals with BadmintonScotland

BadmintonScotland are holding a Pan-Disability festival ahead of the Badminton Scottish Open on the 28^th November in Glasgow.

This will be opened for 14 years+ and all abilities are welcome to try out the sport. During the festival you will participate in a range of badminton activities and competitions.

The ticket is free, and includes entry to the Badminton Scottish Open finals afterwards, enabling particpants who have tried out the sport to watch and experience the best athletes in action.

Details:

 28 November 2021

 12:00 – 13:30

 Emirates Arena. Glasgow

 GoMembership (justgo.com)

Tickets are FREE

Visit the BasketballScotland website for more information

20/10/2021

Ayrshire Swimmers at Open European Trigames

Congratulations to Ayrshire Swimmers Cerys McCrindle and Laura Logan (both South Ayrshire Swim Team) on representing Down Syndrome Swimming GB (DSSGB) at the Open European Trigames in Ferrara, Italy.

The girls flew out at the beginning of October, along with Andrea Manson from Dumfries and Galloway, one of the swimming coaches for DSSGB. This was the first competition for two years and everyone was delighted to have been able to travel and compete safely all within the constraints of Covid.

The girls had been training hard throughout lockdown which definitely paid off. The swimming team as a whole (8 swimmers) broke world records, produced numerous medals and PBs, not to mention lots of fun on and off poolside, to which Cerys and Laura contributed significantly.

The team also managed to do some sightseeing round Ferrara which was a nice ‘rest day’ before back on poolside doing what they do best!

Well done to all, looks like it was a great trip away with many medals, personal achievements and memories made.

06/10/2021

Successful Summer of Fun Programme for Grampian Disability Sport

Grampian Disability Sport had a fantastic return to sport during the summer holidays, thanks to Summer of Play funding.

GDS was able to access just under £8,000 of the government funding thanks to a partnership between Live Life Aberdeenshire and Aberdeenshire ClubSport, which enabled their member clubs and organisations to apply for funding to run free of charge sports and activities for young people and families in Aberdeenshire.

After a surge in popularity of Scottish Disability Sport’s Summer Camp offering for youngsters aged 10 -17 with physical disabilities and sensory impairments, which was to be held at Lochter Activity Centre in Oldmeldrum, the funding enabled GDS to provide a further 7 half-day adventure camps at the site, which were opened up to youngsters with any disability aged 8-17 from Aberdeenshire, and their siblings and families.

Families had the opportunity to take part in a range of adventure activities including buggy driving, water zorbing, go karting, Segway, archery, kayaking and more! The environment was relaxed, staff were very flexible and went above and beyond to support the youngsters, and a total of 161 unique participants were involved across the 7 sessions.

Families commented that they wouldn’t ordinarily pay for this type of experience as they were concerned that their youngsters wouldn’t take part or wouldn’t manage, but seeing their children fully engage in the activities and gain confidence in their abilities changed their perceptions. It enabled parents and carers to meet other families and allowed their children to connect with their peers after lockdown.

They’re looking forward to hopefully offering a similar programme with Lochter during the Aberdeenshire Tatty Holidays.

If you (or someone you know) lives with a disability in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray or Shetland and wants to get involved in sport or physical activity, get in touch with Alison on alison.shaw@scottishdisabilitysport.com or call 07828744848.

06/10/2021

Ability Shetland Joins the SDS Family

We were delighted to announce at this year’s AGM and Awards that Ability Shetland has satisfied the criteria for our Minimum Operating Requirements and is now the 14th Branch to have joined Scottish Disability Sport.

Ability Shetland, and in particular, Stephanie Bain, has worked tirelessly over the last couple of years to get to where they are today, and it was a pleasure to be part of the partnership that established their development plan which aided them in securing funding from Shetland Charitable Trust and sportscotland’s Direct Club Investment for their very first Sports Development Coordinator post.

Ability Shetland and their partners were keen to develop more and better opportunities for people with disabilities across the Islands to get involved in sport and physical activity, and to better connect with clubs, athletes, competitions and pathways on the mainland. Stephanie has commented that they are already seeing the benefits of being a Branch with new athletes being supported, opportunities being developed and participants being invited to events on the mainland.

We are now delighted to work closely with Charis Scott, Ability Shetland’s Sports Development Coordinator, who has done a spectacular job so far in creating partnerships with clubs, developing a successful summer holiday programme, and engaging schools, participants and athletes in SDS events.

Well done to all at Ability Shetland.

If you (or someone you know) lives with a disability in Shetland and wants to get involved in sport or physical activity, get in touch with Alison on alison.shaw@scottishdisabilitysport.com or call 07828744848.

06/10/2021

Parasport Festival Returns to Grampian

On Friday 17th September, we saw the eagerly-anticipated return of the national Parasport Festival programme.

The Festival, which provides opportunities for school-aged pupils in mainstream education with physical disabilities and sensory impairments to try a range of specially-adapted sport and physical activity opportunities, returned to Grampian last month and was the first post-COVID Parasport Festival to take place.

Hosted at the well-equipped Aberdeen Sports Village, this year’s Festival featured a range of exciting sport and activity sessions including the debut of sitting volleyball and kayaking.

Extensive COVID measures were in place including the limiting of participant numbers and spectators, but this didn’t take away from the sheer joy that the youngsters and their families experienced whilst trying new activities and socialising with peers.

Rachael – mum to participant, Lucy – said of the day: “These days are a fantastic opportunity and are so good for the children on so many different levels, physically, socially and emotionally. It enables the children to participate in the sports in an environment that is inclusive, achievable and fun. Thank you so much for organising them. For me as a parent I love attending the days. Being part of the experience and being able to enjoy it with Lucy but also being able to stand back and watch her enjoying herself and what she is achieving. I also think it is beneficial to spend time with other parents and carers for the support you can give each other”.

In addition to providing opportunities for young people with disabilities, the Festival serves as an opportunity for coaches, teachers and activity leaders to gain hands-on experience of inclusive practice. This year, we were fortunate to be joined for the first time by over 50 first year Sports Coaching students from North East Scotland College. They spent time with the youngsters, engaging them in the different activities and providing concentrated support where needed. They also learned from the sport-specific coaches and were treated to a wheelchair basketball masterclass by Grampian Flyers Wheelchair Basketball Club Coach, Kirsty Smith.

Our next step is to continue to upskill the students and to signpost the participants into regular activity available locally to them.

A huge ‘thank you’ goes to all of the partners, clubs, organisations and individuals who supported the event, Corra Foundation for providing the funding to enable us to offer this event at no charge to the participants, and to the youngsters, parents and carers who came along and tried something new.

Roll on the 2022 event!

If you (or someone you know) live with a disability in Shetland, Moray, Aberdeenshire or Aberdeen City, and are keen to get involved in sport and physical activity, please email alison.shaw@scottishdisabilitysport.com or call 07828744848.