At Athletics Trust Scotland, we believe in the life-changing power of athletics and running.
Being active is an important part of living a happy and healthy life. Moving is our bodies isn’t just good for our physical health – it can improve our mental wellbeing, boost our confidence and self-esteem, and help us to form friendships and feel part of our local communities.
We’re committed to creating opportunities for everyone to enjoy the wide-ranging benefits that our wonderful sport has to offer. To do this, we work with our partners at Scottish Athletics and Jog Scotland to support and empower communities who face some of the greatest barriers to being active. Currently these are:
We work with the Scottish Athletics Community Impact Team and a network of community partners to deliver free athletics in the community.
The sessions, which are led by Local Community Impact Leaders, take athletics into communities that are underrepresented in athletics and running.
They enable people who face significant financial, social and cultural barriers to participating in the sport to experience it for the first time, with the emphasis being on making it fun, friendly and inclusive.
We funded Scotland’s first Wheelchair Racing Hub to enable more people with disabilities to enjoy wheelchair racing.
Growing interest in para-athletics has led to increased demand for racing wheelchairs across the country. However, the cost of racing wheelchairs often presents a huge financial barrier to people with disabilities. The hub aims to ease the financial burden by acting as a ‘swap shop’ for racing wheelchairs, with various sizes available for athletics clubs to borrow for free.
We have supported the Scottish Athletics Young People’s Forum (YPF), a national group established to give young people more of a voice in athletics in Scotland.
Over the last four years, cohorts one and two of the YPF have worked on projects which aim to make the sport a more welcoming, inclusive and enjoyable environment for young people, such as disability inclusion, athlete health, and athlete retention.
We launched our Transforming Lives Grants in 2023 to support the brilliant work being delivered at a grassroots level by clubs and groups across the country.
We have distributed two rounds of small grants to initiatives designed to support people who face barriers to participating in and enjoying athletics and running. These have included a prison running group at HMP Grampian through Runforever, Corstorphine AAC’s frame running group, and holiday camps for children affected by poverty run by Aberdeen AAC.
Chair
Former Director of Comms for Muller UK & Ireland and Chair of West End Road Runners
Co-Founder and former Managing Director of FWB
Event Manager at Glasgow Life, Trustee at Scottish Athletics and member of Garscube Harriers
Head of Governance, Risk and Planning at Paralympics GB
Head of Fundraising and Development at the Society of Antiquaries Scotland and member of Springburn Harriers
Weatherman and Social Media Influencer
Head of Sales and Commercial at Fife Sport & Leisure Trust and Trustee at the Grangemouth Community Sports Trust
