Wheelchair sport trailblazers celebrated at national sports awards

Among the winners were Dundee Dragons Wheelchair Sports Club, who went home with the Commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Award at the ceremony organised by Sported, the country’s leading charity supporting the sector.

Following on from the pandemic, the club started working with Scottish Disability Sport and Scottish Cycling as the club had identified that, although cycling had grown almost exponentially amongst non-disabled people, the opportunities for people with disabilities to cycle were few and far between.

They have now established three locations across Dundee with over 80 registered participants ranging from aged 8 to aged 75. The club works in collaboration with participants and partners to ensure their support is reflective of the needs of the local community. As a result, their programmes are inclusive of children, young people and adults with physical and learning disabilities, people who have sensory impairments, as well as neurodivergent participants.

Graham McBain, Dundee Dragons, said: “I’m really thankful to Sported for awarding us this award, and for Nissan and for all the rest of the funders who help with the Sported organisation.

“The warm glow comes from seeing the faces of the people taking part in the cycling that we do. People who may have had a life-changing event and never thought they would experience the chance to be mobile in such a way as coming along and joining us in our adaptive cycling. It also gives them a chance to be socially interactive with other people alike or with other disabilities. To see the smiles on someone’s face, it fills you up to know you’ve done something worthwhile.

Kevin Rattray, Dundee Dragons, added: “Sported has been great. We’ve been involved with sported for ten years and they’ve really helped with opportunities for funding. We’re currently going through a process with a Sported volunteer to help improve governance within the club.”

The awards, presented by TV sports presenter and Sported trustee, Jill Douglas, saw the club beat nominees from across the charity’s nationwide network of 5,000 groups and clubs.

Sported’s National Manager for Scotland, Ailidh Hood, said: “Dundee Dragons are a prime example of how a grassroots sports group isn’t just getting people active but are making a huge impact on the lives of those involved and reaching out into their local community.

“They were deserved winners in these awards, and it is a tribute to the incredible work of the volunteers at the helm who go above and beyond to create a great environment in which everyone flourishes.”

The ceremony was hosted at the headquarters of Barclays Bank in London’s Canary Wharf.

The chief executive of Sported, Sarah Kaye, whose charity supports and funds over 5000 groups nationally, called for greater support of grassroots sport, insisting the list of winners are just the tip of the iceberg in underlining the immense contribution of the sector.

“Clubs up and down the country are producing astonishing impacts on their local communities and the Sported Awards throws a spotlight on how they make a difference to so many with their work,” she said.

“However, we know that the vast majority of this is done by volunteers and that not enough funding is being made available to support them in what they do, let alone help them to invest further into the lives of people in their villages, towns and cities.

“Without proper funding these community lynchpins are at risk. However there is an immense opportunity for government and private sector partners to invest into what they accomplish and unleash the power of these local heroes to achieve even more.”

To register to give your time and knowledge to help local heroes impact their community, visit the volunteering section of the Sported website: https://sported.org.uk/volunteers.

More information about Sported, its network, and the support the organisation provides to grassroots sports groups is available on its website at www.sported.org.uk.