After the success of the first cohort of the Young Persons Sport Panel (YPSP), Scottish Disability Sport are delighted to announce the recruitment of a second Young Persons Sport Panel. The new panel is supported by the National Lottery Community Fund and will be made up of 14 young people aged 16 and 22 who come with a huge amount of enthusiasm, knowledge and experiences to help shape the future of disability sport in Scotland. The SDS Young Persons Sport Panel was established in late 2015 with 12 members who have made a massive contribution to disability sport over the last 4 years.
“The Young Persons Sports Panel is an important group within Scottish Disability Sport. It allows the voice of young people with a disability to be heard and influence planning and delivery of all aspects of the associations work. I thank the outgoing members of the panel for all their hard work and look forward to working closely with the new panel members moving forward” – Gavin Macleod, SDS CEO.
SDS are really pleased that the 14 new members are coming from 10 out of 13 of the SDS Member branch areas which will allow the young person’s voice to be heard locally as well as nationally.
The YPSP members are:
- Thomas Boers (Grampian)
- Neil Ferguson (Lothian)
- Hayden Keir (Dumfries and Galloway)
- Samantha Louise Gough (Lothian)
- Maria Lyle (Lothian)
- Murran MacKay (Angus)
- Rory McKinna (Ayrshire)
- Laura Pilkington (Lothian)
- Fiona Rogers (South Lanarkshire)
- Caitlyn Ross (continuing on, Forth Valley)
- Callum Sloan (continuing on, Fife)
- Craig Smith (Glasgow)
- Cadyn Thomson (Perth and Kinross)
- Matthew Wynne (East Renfrewshire)
A huge thank you must go to Ross Foley (Lothian), Hope Gordon (Highland), Mitchell Graham (Forth Valley), Alan Gray (Lothian), Stefan Hoggan – Radu (Fife), Danielle Joyce (Ayrshire), Gemma Lumsdaine (Dundee), Colette Martin (South Lanarkshire), Lewis McConnell (Glasgow), Caitlyn Ross (Forth Valley), Callum Sloan (Fife), Shelby Watson (Dumfries & Galloway) for all of their contributions on the YPSP. The group helped to shape the SDS Strategic plan 2017-21 and also contributed to the development of the new plan beyond 2021. As well this the youngsters have influenced key partners on inclusive practice, gained continuous professional development and numerous qualifications and gained experience volunteering at many SDS Events. Some of the previous panel will now transition into becoming mentors for the new group and support with the programming of the YPSP.
Previous Panel member Gemma Lumsdaine shared her thoughts: “I have really enjoyed being part of the SDS Young Persons Sport Panel over the last five years. We have made real progress as a group in terms of creating more opportunities for young people with a disability to engage more in sport. Being involved in the panel has also helped us to grow as individuals with many of us now working in the sport sector. The new panel is full of passionate and proactive young people, I can’t wait to see what they manage to achieve over the next few years.”
For more information on the SDS Young Persons Sport Panel please contact Jennifer Barsby at jennifer.barsby@scottishdisabilitysport.com.