Tag: grace stirling

profile photo of Grace Stirling. Grace is smiling to the camera and is wearing a brown jacket and tartan scarf. A lake and Scottish hills are in the background

Grace Stirling Rejoins SDS Family in New Role

Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) is delighted to welcome Grace Stirling in a new role at SDS, as Disability Identity and Sport Developer. 

Grace returns to SDS after working as the Young Persons’ Sport Panel (YPSP) Administrator (2023-2024) and before that, sitting on the panel herself. We caught up with Grace to find out all about this new and exciting opportunity. 

 

Question: Can you tell us about your new role and responsibilities? 

I’m very excited to be returning to SDS as the Disability Identity and Sport Developer. I was part of the original group of young people who created the Disability, Identity and Sport workshop, and I’ve supported its delivery ever since. We’ll continue to run the original workshop, and I’m keen to reach even more young disabled people and other audiences too.

In my new role, I’ll also be supporting the current YPSP and Young Start members to design and deliver a new workshop on disability advocacy. Having had the chance as a young person to shape a workshop myself, I know how important lived experience is in creating something meaningful and relevant.

Now, I’m excited to see the current members take the lead. Advocacy is such an important part of life with a disability, yet there are few places for young people to learn and build this skill. The young people have highlighted it as a topic they’re passionate about, and I’m looking forward to helping them use their experiences to bring this new workshop to life.

 

What does this new role mean for you? 

Returning to SDS feels really special to me. It’s an organisation where I’ve grown a lot, built my confidence, and felt genuinely listened to as a young disabled person. Now being able to support other young people to have those same experiences means a lot to me.

 

What are you ambitions within this role?

My main ambition in this role is to make sure the workshops reach as many people as possible, especially the young people who need them most. It’s also really important to me that disabled young people get the chance to use their voices and lived experience to educate and influence those who work with disabled young people and those who work in sport and that the learning from these workshops has a lasting impact on practice. 

 

Welcome back, Grace! 

Panel members at the Scottish Women In Sport conference

Scottish Women in Sport Conference 2024 – Safe and Strong 

Last month, the Scottish Women in Sport Conference featured a great lineup of inspirational speakers, including SDS’s YPSP Administrator Grace Stirling and Commonwealth Games Para Cyclist Laura Cluxton.  

Laura Pilkington, SDS Board Director, hosted the session, during which Laura and Grace shared their experiences in sport. 

They both delivered fantastic presentations highlighting sports’ positive contributions to their lives. They described situations where inclusive practice, implemented to support their safety and well-being, could have improved their experiences.  

They challenged the audience to think inclusively to promote and support the safety, inclusion and well-being of participants and athletes with disabilities. The key messages from Laura and Grace were: 

  • Focus on an athlete’s ability, not disability 
  • Educate sports staff and coaches to embed inclusion in their practice  
  • Athletes feeling safe will lead to better performance 
  • Be proactive, not reactive 
  • Small changes can make a big difference 
  • Contact Scottish Disability Sport for support. 

 

You can watch the highlights of the video here.  

If you are an organisation that would like to offer more inclusive opportunities, please contact Scottish Disability Sport at admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com or telephone 0131 317 1130. 

And in other news… Scottish Women in Sport Awards! 

Scottish Women in Sport are seeking nominations for this year’s awards. You can use this SW/S Nomination Form to submit the following. Deadline is this Friday 13th September!

  • Sportswoman of the Year  
  • Young Sportswoman of the Year  
  • Para Athlete of the Year  
  • SW/S Inspiration in Sport  
  • Team of the Year 
  • Coach/Manager of the Year  
  • Community Champion of the Year  
  • Volunteer of the Year  
  • Pioneer in Sport  
  • Most Valuable PartnershipÂ