During the Commonwealth Games, Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) held it’s first ever Celebration of Para Sport event at Team Scotland House, Glasgow. The event brought together leaders and key influencers from the sport, disability and third sectors, to reflect on the history of para sport in the Commonwealth Games, highlight the achievement of notable athletes and celebrate the success of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. Furthermore, it was an opportunity for SDS to update everyone in attendance on the next important steps of the four-point Call to Action and what else needs to change in order for sport and physical activity to become more accessible for individuals with disabilities.
The day provided a welcome opportunity to celebrate Glasgow 2026 having the most inclusive events programme in Commonwealth history, and how as a wider workforce, they have ensured the Games legacy results in longer term involvement in sport.
The event reached it’s maximum capacity, as SDS were joined by leaders of varying sectors, notable attendees included David Clarke, Chief Executive Officer of ParalympicsGB, Forbes Dunlop sportscotland’s Chief Executive Officer, Maree Todd Minister for Mental Wellbeing, Public Health, Sport, Alcohol and Drugs, Gavin Thomson, Motability Scheme’s Managing Director of Scotland, and a selection of Chief Executive Officers and senior managers from Scottish Governing Bodies of sport and other third sector partners.
A series of fantastic guest speakers attended the event, who shared their journeys in sport, its impact on their wider lives and the progress of the Para sport movement.
One of these guest speakers was Finlay Davidson, a member of Team Scotland’s squad for Glasgow 2026, also a member of SDS’s most recent Young Persons’ Sports Pannel (YPSP). Interviewed by Grace Stirling a former member of SDS staff and YPSP member, who now works for Glasgow 2026, Finlay was able to provide fantastic insight into representing Team Scotland in Para Powerlifting at his debut Commonwealth Games, along with providing the audience with his valuable lived experience, where he discussed barriers he has had to overcome, representing his family in Glasgow, and how his journey to becoming part of Team Scotland’s squad transpired.
Maria Lyle was part of the guest speaker cohort, where the former Para Athlete with Team Scotland and Paralympics GB, and former SDS staff member and YPSP member was able to share her thoughts. Interviewed by Gemma Lumsdaine (Former YPSP member and current Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby player), Maria was able to share her experiences of being a multiple World, European and Paralympic medalist, along with reflecting on her experience representing Team Scotland at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, where she won a historic silver medal in the T35 100m. Maria was able to provide insight gained through lived experience into what policy and system changes are needed to make sport and physical activity inclusive, as well as explaining the vital role that education will have when changing perception of disabilities and Para Sport.
The event provided an important platform to highlight SDS’s four-point Call to Action which was published in September 2025. Created after the publication of SDS’s national survey, undertaken in partnership with Queen Margaret University, the Call to Action highlights the ongoing inequalities individuals with disabilities experience when accessing sport and physical activity. The campaign calls on government, local authorities, health boards, education providers, leisure trusts and third-sector organisations to recognise the rights of people with disabilities.
The next edition of the SDS National Survey is scheduled to launch on 1 September. Please do keep a look out for it, complete and share with all your relevant networks to ensure that the opinions of people with disabilities guide the policy and strategy for organisations across sport and physical activity.
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