We hope you have been finding the fortnightly communications useful. We will be sending these communications on a monthly basis due to moving through the phases of the return to sport and from feedback from the Branch Steering Group. We will of course continue to send any time sensitive information to you in between the monthly newsletters.

1. SDS Branch Conference, AGM & Annual Awards 2020: Sunday 27 September

1. 1. Branch Conference

The virtual SDS Branch Conference will take place between 1030am – 1pm prior to the AGM. The topics for the conference are:

• Get Out Get Active Workshop: What are the key learnings for use within branches?
• Return to Sport: Up to date discussion about returning to sport and physical activity within branches
• Branch Networking: An opportunity for branches to share experiences and success stories

               To register your attendance please follow the link: Branch Conference Registration

 

1.2 AGM

For the first time the AGM & Annual Awards will be held online, on 27 September 2020 at 2pm.  

This year at the AGM there will also be elections for a number of Board positions. If there is anyone you know who is interested in becoming an SDS Board Director, please ask them to contact Catherine Goodfellow, Chair of SDS at (chair@scottishdisabilitysport.com) for an informal chat.  Board members make a difference to the direction and support provided by the organisation.  We need people who you will know locally who have a real interest in making a difference for disability sport, appreciate the challenges and recognise opportunities for our participants, volunteers, players and athletes.  

1.3 SDS Award nomination

Voting for the SDS Annual Awards for 2020 is now officially open. Nominations can be made to recognise athletes, coaches, volunteers and clubs across Scotland. The 2020 awards will be presented at the SDS AGM on Sunday 27^th September which will be held online. Anyone connected with disability sport in Scotland has the opportunity to make a nomination and further details can be found here: SDS Awards Nominations

 

1.4 The SDS Athletes’ Athlete Award

The SDS Athletes’ Athlete Award will be voted for by Scottish para athletes actively involved in sport from club to international level. The performances of the individual between 1 September 2019 and 31 August 2020 should be considered when submitting your vote and these have been listed below for your consideration.
Closing Date: 31 August 2020

Nominate here

 

 

2. Phased Return to Sport

 

2. 1. Phase 3 Guidance

SDS Phase 3 Guidance paper has been updated on 6 August 2020 regarding Scottish Government information on shielding – SDS Phase 3 Guidance Paper

2.2 sportscotland resources

sportscotland are continuing to update our website with the latest information and resources, so please encourage your own networks to use this resource. https://sportscotland.org.uk/covid-19/

Updated pages include:

• Getting coaches ready for sport 
• Getting your facilities fit for sport 
• Latest sport and physical activity guidance
• Coronavirus and sport – frequently asked questions

2. 2. Covid-19 Return to educational establishments

PE Guidance has now been published on the Education Scotland National Improvement Hub: https://education.gov.scot/improvement/learning-resources/covid-19-return-to-educational-establishments-pe/

2.3 Club Covid Officers Update

To help ensure a safe return to sport, Scottish Governing Body (SGB) guidance requires clubs to appoint a named COVID Officer for the club. This important role could be for a new volunteer or added to a current role within the club. The person in this role will complete documented risk assessments and ensure all appropriate mitigation are put in place before any activity is undertaken. The purpose of this role is to oversee public health and safety measures across the club or organisation, ensuring that it is operating in a safe manner and adheres to Scottish Government and relevant SGB guidelines. We have now developed a ‘COVID-19 Officer’ role description template and in collaboration with SRU, we will shortly be in a position to share the link for specific training to support this role. https://sportscotland.org.uk/media/5950/sportscotland-covid-officer.pdf

2.4 Changing Lives Webinar Series

Throughout August and September, we will be playing our part by staging a series of six topic based webinars to help clubs navigate the changing context of community sport in Scotland.
The sessions, which will be led by the Changemakers Partnership, will focus on topics like delivering a blended model of sport and including everyone in the sport recovery.
They are relevant to club leaders who are connected to either a Changing Lives Champion or a Community Sport Hub Officer.
If you’re interested in attending, please register via the sign-up form below. https://form.jotform.com/201415610053035

2.5 Getting Coaches Ready for Sport Webinar

Following on from the recent webinars which took place during the month of July, due to popular demand sportscotland are going to be hosting another Getting coaches ready for sport session on Thursday 20^th August for those involved in clubs in the communities to bring to life our recently published document. Please could I politely ask you inform your clubs of this session taking place and encourage them to sign up (Eventbrite link is below.)

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/getting-coaches-ready-for-sport-tickets-115494839173

2.6 Job Retention Bonus Scheme

UK Government have announced that employers will receive a one-off bonus of £1,000 for each employee who has been furloughed as part of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Employees must still be employed by the organisation as of 31 January 2021.
Full details of the scheme have not yet been announced but SGBs and member organisations may want to consider this as they undertake financial planning.     https://www.gov.uk/government/news/summer-statement-delivers-plan-for-jobs-in-scotland

2.7 Parent Club Back to School Campaign

Parent Club provides information and guidance from the Scottish Government for parents and carers. Their new Back to School campaign aims to provide advice, reassurance and tips for  families to help in the days leading up to the school/nursery doors opening again. There are a number of resources for stakeholders to share on their own channels to reach the children and young people they work with.
If you would like to share these messages and resources with your own network, you can download from the Stakeholder Toolkit or share posts from the Parent Club Twitter or Facebook pages.

 

3. Scottish Boccia Chairperson

Two days left to apply for the Scottish Boccia Chairperson Role to lead the sport through the next strategic cycle. Apply here

 

Role Title: Chairperson of Scottish Boccia (voluntary) 

Organisation: Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) 

Responsible to: Scottish Disability Sport board 

Meetings: Four meetings per year 

Closing Date: 12 August

 

This is a voluntary position, but all reasonable expenses will be paid. The chairperson is expected to attend Scottish Boccia meetings, held four times per year, and other Scottish Boccia events (as available). The level of time commitment is flexible and will be tailored to suit the applicant’s current commitments and the needs of Scottish Boccia. 

 

If you are interested in the above appointment please submit a CV and covering letter (addressing how your skills and expertise fit with the role) and equal opportunities form, marked “private and confidential”, to Gavin MacLeod Chief Executive Officer, at  gavin.macleod@scottishdisabilitysport.com

 

 

4. SDS Branch Resources section

SDS have created a branch resource section on the website. This section has various links to useful information during this time and to the previous branch communications that have been circulated

SDS Branch Resources

5. Funding

5.1 Kiltwalk

On the weekend of the 11th – 13th September, the Edinburgh Kiltwalk is going Virtual! You can take on any Kiltwalk Inspired challenge you wish – go for a walk, a cycle, wheel, push, jump on a trampoline, or even a family scavenger hunt from the safety of within your local area. Raise funds for your chosen charity and everything you raise will receive a 50% top up* from The Hunter Foundation. If you would like more information on what is involved, please contact Graeme Doig graeme@pkds.org.uk who recently completed the virtual Dundee Kiltwalk and raised funds for Perth & Kinross Disability Sport

https://www.thekiltwalk.co.uk/events/virtual-kiltwalk-

5.2 Energy Saving Funding

Energy Saving Trust are pleased to announce the launch of the eBike Grant Fund 2020/2021. The fund launched on 1st July 2020, as Transport Scotland committed a further £900,000 towards funding ebikes, ecargo bikes, etrikes, adapted bikes, cargo bikes, tandems and trailers.  

Category A offers up to £25,000 of funding towards projects that will provide opportunities for their communities to trial a range of ebikes. The fund would like to encourage groups working with those who have mobility issues/other disabilities to apply. We have previously granted two organisations with many etrikes which ensure people with stability and mobility difficulties have access to cycling. A project in Shetland has been trialling adaptive bikes, allowing people with a range of disabilities to access cycling.

This year, projects can also apply for subsidised ebike hire for those with disabilities or mobility issues. This will be limited to 5% of the overall project cost (including match-funding contribution), and evidence of the established cost of hire will need to be provided at the point of application. Please find more information on our website here. There you will find a free webinar and guidance and information that can assist you.

7. Online Activities

7.1 National Lottery Awards 2020 Nominations

This year, The National Lottery Awards are looking for individuals and small groups of people who have made an outstanding impact in their community. They are especially interested in those who have adapted during the Covid-19 pandemic. Nominations are open to those who have been funded by the National Lottery or who are associated with a funded project with winners decided by a judging panel. Winners from the following categories will be awarded a National Lottery Awards trophy and a £3,000 prize for their project:

• Arts
• Charity/Voluntary
• Education
• Environment
• Health
• Heritage
• Sport
• Young Hero (under 18s)

Nominate your community champion by midnight on Wednesday 19 August 2020 via the National Lottery website.

7. 2. SDS Summer Activities overview

The Team has created a video highlighting all of the activities and events that we’re running over the summer months. Check it out on the SDS YouTube channel: SDS Summer Activities

 

7.3 Tuesday Night Live – Athlete Profile

In this series we will be delivering 30-45 minute webinars where we will interview Paralympic athletes on their careers to date. Here we will gain an insight into how they got involved; what motivates them; what their career highlights have been as well as their future aspirations. The next session is on Tuesday 18 August at 7pm and will be with Robyn Love, GB Wheelchair Basketball Paralympian.

Viewers will be able to interact with the athletes through the chat function and ask questions throughout the interview, or submit questions in advance. Future athletes are Samantha Gough on Tuesday 1 September 2020, at 1900.  Register using the links on the calendar here or contact admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com or 0131 317 1130. Please circulate this information around your networks as we can accommodate a large audiences for the Tuesday Night Live sessions with performance athletes and want as many people as possible to have the opportunity to be involved.

7.4 Coaches Seminars

Delighted to announce the next coaches seminars over the summer

• Wednesday 12 August 2020, 1900 – 2000 Classification
• Tuesday 25 August 2020, 1900-2000 Generating Feedback
• Thursday 27 August 2020, 1900 – 2000 Nutrition

For further details and to book your place click to access the calendar here and search by date

Further seminars will be added in due course.

               7.5 UK Coaching’s New Duty to Care Toolkit and Digital Badge to Facilitate #GreatCoaching

We all know how important it is to consider and care for the needs of everyone that is coached, ensuring that they have a great experience.

To help you explore this and show your commitment to care, ukcoaching has launched a newtoolkit that

              will equip you with the knowledge and skills to provide great coaching experiences for everyone – crucial both now, as you return to coaching following the relaxing of the COVID-19 restrictions – and in the future.

As part of the toolkit, you can earn a free nationally recognised ‘Digital

              Badge’ to demonstrate to the public that you are committed to the principles of Duty to Care(Diversity, Inclusion, Mental Health, Safeguarding and Well-being), which underpin great coaching.

We have also published an overarching Guide

to Duty to Care that it is hoped will offer key information and galvanise the coaching sector to fulfil your obligations around the education and provision of the five pillars of Duty to Care.

7.6 Be Active Be Well

SDS launched an exciting new online programme for the next seven weeks over the summer period, Be Active Be Well. There are three strands to the programme;

1: Be Active – these are physical activity sessions Monday to Friday at 2pm starting with

• • • Monday – Stretching with Bob Smith
    • Tuesday – Chair based exercise with Ella Beaumont
    • Wednesday – HIIT with Gill Penfold
    • Thursday – Yoga with Helen Singleton
    • Friday – Callanetics with Gill Penfold

2: Be Well – each Monday at 11am for the next eight weeks starting on 29 June there will be mental wellbeing sessions run by our valued partner SAMH and others

3: Connect 5 – activities for you to interact with over the eight weeks

Sign-up here at the SDS Calendar and search by day

8. Coming Soon

 

8.1 Virtual Parasport Days

A successful parasport day took place on Sunday 26 July. The Second Virtual Parasport Days is scheduled for Sunday 26^th July. The purpose of this day is to offer opportunities to young people (with a physical, learning, visual or hearing impairment) from P1 to S6 to experience a range of new sports, have fun and get active.  Participants are invited to join Scottish Disability Sport in the first of two Parasport Days to experience a range of sports including basketball, boccia and football from the comfort of their own home! The event will be delivered by experienced coaches, Governing Bodies of Sport and supported by the Scottish Government Wellbeing Fund.

Participants can sign up here and more details can be found on the SDS website.

 

8.2 Virtual Pentathlon Championships

Scottish Disability Sport are holding an Inter-Branch Virtual Pentathlon Championships in partnership with scottishathletics The Virtual Inter-Branch Pentathlon will be led by branches, using a guide distributed by SDS, to deliver a series of five athletic challenges to their members and participants over a five-week period in September (Sep 7 – Oct 11). Branches will be able to create their own leader boards for their members in each of the five individual events, as well as identify the ‘all-rounder’ who excels across all events and scores the highest combined points total across the five disciplines.

On a national level, branches will also be invited to submit their athletes’ results to Scottish Disability Sport for inclusion in the National Inter-Branch Pentathlon Leaderboard. Whilst the branch-level competition will be for individuals, the national event will collate team results to identify the Virtual Inter-Branch Pentathlon Champions. A trophy will be awarded to the winning branch. Branches should register interest but Friday 14 August and a registration form will be distributed to all registered branches.

https://www.scottishdisabilitysport.com/virtual-pentathlon-2020/

 

8.3 #sporthour

        The next sportscotland #sporthour will be held on Monday 7 September at 9pm – 10pm.

 

9. Other Information
   2. Disability Sport Fife

Disability Sport Fife have been doing some great work over the last few months. Please here for more information on what DSF have been doing during this time. If any other branches have anything they would like to share please send us the information

 

9.2 Glasgow Disability Sport

Glasgow Disability Sport need your vote! Glasgow Disability Sport received a £1,000 funding award from Persimmon and as a result they have been shortlisted to win a share of Persimmon Homes Building Futures £1 Million pot. All you need to do is go on to www.persimmonhomes.com/building-futures/ and vote for Glasgow Disability Sport. The funding will be used to sustain and develop grass route clubs and sporting activities; calendar of competitive events as well as extending and increasing the number of sporting activities. Voting is open from now until 18 September 2020 and those with the most online votes have a chance of receiving £100,000, £50,000 or £20,000

 

10. Branch social media

 

SDS Member Branch Media: To keep up to date with what else is happening around our member branches please see the links below to their various media channels.

 

Some brief thoughts from Disability Sport Fife

Greetings fellow Branch members, friends, and partners. These are tough times for us all and we can only do what we can do and hope that it is enough to see us through to the “new normal”. As we are based in a Fife Sports and Leisure Trust leisure centre, Disability Sport Fife has not had access to office space, computers, files etc. The Association has been run form my home with our major communication medium being the DSF Facebook page www.facebook.com/disabilitysportfife. Interestingly and surprisingly we now have 6,200 followers and rising by the day which makes our efforts more meaningful and worthwhile.  In response to Jen’s plea for Branch information I thought I would share with you what we have been up to over these past few months.

• Our virtual Annual Awards had an attendance of 107, largest number to date. DSF (SCIO) has continued to hold Board of Charity Trustees meetings and we recently managed to squeeze in our AGM within 15 months of the 2019 event. The Fife Disabled Sports Trust AGM was also held during lockdown and we have submitted applications for funding and received a few significant donations. We continue to prepare for the introduction of two part time coordinators with support from Fife Council and the Robertson Trust. Non access to the office has slowed down our plans but we are in regular contact with FSLT and live for the day. Key of course is to open our activity sessions as soon as possible and coaches, volunteers and peer mentor volunteers are standing by. The decision rests with FSLT and significant others but opening date cannot come soon enough.
• As far as the Facebook page is concerned, I have tried to keep it fresh and interesting and have managed up to six submissions daily. I receive and upload submissions from families, individuals and partners and try to tell their stories on how they have retained their commitment to physical activity including sport. It has been an opportunity to write about people, organisations and events in the past that have shaped the present and our future. I have extended the net across Scotland and attempted to include great Scots who have achieved great things in my 40 plus years in disability sport. Maybe it is because I studied history for so long that I feel committed to looking back to looking forward. We have much to be proud of as a Branch but Scotland has so much more to be proud of as a nation.
• DSF has tried to encourage our members to be active during lockdown. Some of our coaches have run brilliant virtual sessions and I have publicised daily the brilliant programme offered by Fife Sports and Leisure Trust and other national agencies. DSF has tapped into the SDS programme of events, talks, workshops, webinars etc and when asked Fife tutors have contributed to the national programme. It is a productive way of working but hopefully will not replace the face to face contact that we are used to. Some Fife coaches and volunteers have continued to promote walking and running/pushing/adapted cycling as a way of life. Walk buddies have been active and several coaches and volunteers have created virtual social occasions with quality outcomes.

The longer non access to the office goes on the more challenging it will be to sustain these short-term measures. I do not doubt that other Branches have similar challenges, but I thought it might be useful to share our experiences. DSF has remained active, committed, enthusiastic and I cannot thank my fellow Trustees, athletes, coaches, volunteers, peer mentor volunteers and partners for their support and commitment. DSF remains a strong SDS Branch and we look forward to meeting up with you all at the Annual Branch Conference.

Richard Brickley OBE MBE Chairman DSF (SCIO) Board of Charity Trustees