By William Moncrieff, Communications Officer
Dundee and Angus College hosted the SDS Tayside Parasport Festival on Wednesday 6th March and it proved to be a huge success, once again. Participants, coaches, parents and attending partners all had an amazing day experiencing firsthand how sport has the ability to influence and change lives.
One parent, Lynne Donaldson, who attended with her 12-year-old daughter, had her first experience at a Parasport Festival. Lynne remarked: “It has been a really good experience for both of us to meet other individuals who take part in disability sport and to have the opportunity to try a range of sports.”
This was an opinion that Jenny Moffet, another parent, shared: “If you didn’t have Festivals like this, there just wouldn’t be a chance to meet so many people, have fun and make friends, as well as getting stuck into the physical activity and trying things that they wouldn’t have the opportunity to try.”
Graeme Doig, the Regional Development Manager for Tayside, found the day to be very rewarding. “We’ve all enjoyed another wonderful Parasport Festival in Tayside and it was great to see so many children with smiles on their faces all day long learning new skills, increasing confidence and making new friends,” Graeme said.
The Parasport Festival saw 54 young children with physical disabilities, visual impairments and hearing loss arrive at Dundee and Angus College to take part in a day packed with fun and activity. With the festival being held at the college there was an opportunity for sports students to attend as assistants and helpers for the day. Lauren Simpson, the Active Campus Coordinator, said, “It’s really important to offer our college students the opportunity to work with a variety of people.
“It enhances their experiences as coaches, it means that they have the opportunity to adapt and work with people with different abilities and make it more inclusive.”
Along with providing opportunities to develop the students, the day is also rewarding for them. “A lot of what will come back from the students is the relationships that they have built with the young people. It’s been fun and personalised and they’ve had fun and played with them and actually that has been such a lovely by product of the day,” Lauren said.
The Parasport Festival had multiple Sport Governing Bodies attending, which helped provide the participants with a positive first impression of the sports. Rodger Holmes, Development Manager from Paddle Scotland, was part of the delivery team on the day and said: “We have supported the festivals a lot over the years and it’s always great to see how excited the youngsters are to take part.”
Rodger added, “It’s always great to highlight our sport, people don’t necessarily always get to try paddle sport in their daily lives, so if we can give them a bit of an opportunity that’s brilliant.”
This opportunity to try a range of sports in one place, is something that Jenny Moffet believes to be a big bonus for participants. “His (Jeny’s son) ideas of what he would like to do and what he would like to try are changing all the time, so it’s just completely brilliant to have the opportunity to be at a Festival like this.”
The 2025 SDS Parasport Festivals are partnership events, generously supported by the Motability Scheme. Charlotte Januszewski from the Motability Scheme’s communications team was in attendance and said: “Really enjoying being here today on behalf of the Motability Scheme, so thank you very much to Scottish Disability Sport for having us. It’s been awesome to see all the different types of sports that everyone can get involved with and have lots of fun. I think everyone has been smiling a lot.”
Along with attending the Parasport Festival, the Motability Scheme are able to showcase their organisation and how they can help make lives more accessible through travel. “It’s spreading awareness about what the Motability Scheme can offer, so making sport more accessible in Scotland by breaking down barriers for people when they are accessing more sports and going to new locations,” Charlotte explained.
Along with partners and governing bodies, various local authorities attended the festival. David McLeish from Angus Active Schools was there and said: “It’s amazing. It makes us think every year about what we can do to help get more children and families involved.”
He continued to say that: “School settings can only do so much. You want the children and young people to take things out into the community, it can often be the starting point for young children and their families to come to this event. For me, that is what is so special about this and why it is so important that we all do our part to get individuals along to days like this.”
Graeme Doig agreed with this, explaining how important the partnership element of the event is. He said, “Sport really is for everyone. Along with our partner clubs in the region, we have demonstrated that with the right support and small adaptations, anyone can give it a go and hopefully find a new passion in sport.”
If you would like to explore what sporting opportunities there are throughout your region, contact your Regional Development Manager. If you have enjoyed reading about the Parasport Festivals, make sure to have a look at the SDS website, with registration still being open for several Parasport Festivals.
Make sure to stay up to date on all opportunities throughout Scotland, by following Scottish Disability Sport on Facebook, X and Instagram, as well as on the SDS website.