The East of Scotland Parasport Festival took place at Forrester High School in Edinburgh on Friday 24th March. Scottish Disability Sport and Edinburgh Active Schools had the pleasure of welcoming 43 children aged 8-17 from Edinburgh, the Lothians and the Scottish Borders.
Throughout the day participants were able to try out a variety of different sports including athletics, frame running, swimming, goalball, powerchair football, wheelchair basketball, judo, badminton, football, snowsports, canoeing and boccia. All sessions were delivered by local clubs and governing bodies of sport. All the participants seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience and will now be supported into regular sport and physical activity within their local communities. SDS Chair, Catherine Goodfellow, said: “The facilities were great, the number of partners involved was tremendous and it was great to see so many smiling and excited participants.”
At the end of the festival, we were lucky enough to be joined by Paralympic sprinter Maria Lyle, Commonwealth Games swimmer Sam Downie and Goalball UK player and England Blind Football Captain Samantha Gough. They shared inspirational stories and answered questions from an inquisitive audience.
The event was also supported by 22 young ambassadors from St. Augustine’s HS and various other schools across the Capital. One S6 volunteer from St. Augustine’s commented that it was one of the “best days I’ve ever had at school.”
We’d like to thank Edinburgh Active Schools, Lothian Disability Sport, the clubs, coaches and our sports governing body partners for their support on the day!