It is a fond farewell to Colin Duthie, who has retired from his role as Sports Development Officer for South Ayrshire Council. Colin had worked for the council since the early 2000’s, undertaking various different work, but his main role and passion were disability sport where he made a huge impact on the people of South Ayrshire. His enthusiasm, knowledge and persona will be greatly missed.
Colin started out in disability sport himself doing equestrian where he represented Scotland and Great Britain, doing extremely well in a very tough sport. To this day he is involved in equestrian as a trustee and active member of Carrick RDA (Riding for the Disabled Association) where his support is invaluable.
Along with Gordon Rainey, Colin founded South Ayrshire Access to Sport (SAAS) in 1999, which at the time was a branch organisation of Scottish Disability Sport, and would provide activities, support and funding to the local people who wanted to get involved in disability sport. SAAS was a charity and Colin and others would actively fundraise for the group.
At the same time Colin was heavily involved in Ayrshire Sportsability (ASA), which was established in 2001, as one of the founding members and represented the Council on the board. ASA initially started out providing opportunities for children and young people with disabilities in all three of the Ayrshires, but has since moved on to include adults, and SAAS is now under the wing of ASA who are now the branch of SDS. Colin is still actively involved in SAAS and ASA and this will undoubtedly continue for as long as possible.
Cars, bikes and going fast have always been Colin’s passion and he was instrumental in setting up Disability Motorsport Scotland (DMS) where he is also a trustee and races for DMS in Superlap Scotland at Knockhill.
Colin is an extremely pleasant, caring, friendly and patient individual who always has time for others. His desire for disability sport and helping others get involved and realise their potential is second to none. He has always been a great supporter of SDS and everyone who knows him wishes him well for the future. See you soon Colin!