As well giving children and young people the opportunity to try athletics for the first time, the sessions aim to increase wellbeing, boost confidence, create social cohesion and offer positive activities for them to channel their energy into. Delivered in partnership with Scottish Athletics and Scottish Sport Futures, they play an important part in Athletics Trust Scotland’s mission to transform lives through the power of athletics and running.

Here, Kebba tells us about the impact sport has had on his own life and why he thinks opportunities like these are needed for communities like his own.

“Sport has shaped my own life – it’s made me more confident, I’ve made friends with lots of people I never would have met otherwise, it makes me happy. It’s had such a positive impact on my day to day life that I was excited to help other young people get the same enjoyment out of it.”

“The sessions are so important for children and young people round here. They get them out of the house doing something active, something sociable, something outdoors in the fresh air. Nobody ever gets their phones out – they’re so engaged for the full two hours that they don’t even think to look at them.

I’ve noticed a big change in lots of the young people since they started coming along to sessions. Some of them who were quieter are more willing to speak up now. Others who were causing trouble and getting into fights have calmed down. We’ve created a culture of taking part, so now everyone just spends the full two hours having fun throwing themselves into activities without getting bored or distracted.”

“It’s important that someone like me leads the sessions – I’ve grown up in the area, I’ve gone to the same school, and I understand the challenges lots of the children and young people around here face. When they see me, they see someone who is just like them. They can relate to me, which means that roles like these are something that they can realistically aspire to.”

Photo credit: Alex Thomson

The post Inspirational Teen Making an Impact in his Local Community appeared first on Athletics Trust Scotland.

For the second year in a row, the club held a week’s worth of activities, starting on the Monday and ending on Sunday, bringing together people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds.

Organised by club member Alan O’Rourke, this started with the Port Pack Run, which saw a fantastic turnout of 34 runners and included three enthusiastic newcomers. Day 2 was Track Night at the Ravenscraig Stadium, featuring a Come and Try session. Juniors and seniors covered warm-ups, drills, running form, and even plyometrics. The atmosphere was welcoming and inclusive, with track newbies especially encouraged to give it a go.

To mark Global Running Day, they hosted a 3km run along the Esplanade on Wednesday. This wasn’t just for club members it was open to partners, parents, grannies, kids, neighbours, schoolmates, work colleagues, and even the local lollipop man. The message was clear: running is for everyone.

Day 4 offered two brilliant options. The first of these was the Coastal Pack Run – which headed out from Gourock Pool for a gentle jog along the coast, giving people a chance to enjoy the scenery, while connecting with others. The second was another Come and Try session at the Ravenscraig Stadium.

Friday’s focus was on beginners, with a Couch to 5K session at Battery Park. A supportive introduction to running has since blossomed into the club’s Absolute Beginners programme, making Scottish Running Week an inspiration to do more within clubs.

Saturday saw Glenpark Harriers flock to the Greenock parkrun to either run, volunteer, or cheer from the sidelines. Approximately 40 of their runners took on the 5km distance, celebrating the event’s key principles of inclusivity and wellbeing.

Concluding a busy week of activities, the club held a trail run on Sunday around the scenic Greenock Cut, which was home to the Loch Thom Trail Race earlier in the week, hosted by neighbours Inverclyde Athletic Club. Runners could go the full loop or opt for an out-and-back tailoring the distance to suit their own pace and goals.

“From seasoned athletes to first-time runners, Scottish Running Week reminded us that running is more than a sport it’s a way to connect, uplift, and empower,” said Alison King, Greenock Glenpark Harriers President.

“Thanks to everyone who took part, supported, and cheered us on and supported Athletics Trust Scotland. Here’s to many more miles together at GGH.”

The post Greenock Glenpark Harriers’ Week Worth of Events for 2025 Scottish Running Week appeared first on Athletics Trust Scotland.

Aside from this, the club currently runs a community programme, delivering free athletics during the week in areas of high deprivation in the city, in the Decile 1 and 2 of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). This includes taking them away from difficult to access areas such as athletics tracks.

The club applied for funding through Athletics Trust Scotland’s Transforming Lives grant to support the extension of this community programme to their summer camps, making them accessible to all children.

Athletics Trust Scotland granted funds to Aberdeen AAC to deliver this programme, which has been met with a positive response.

“We wanted with this grant to be able to invite these children to participate in the summer camp at Aberdeen Sports Village, so at an athletics track with a long jump pit, with a high jump mat, etc. because we’re getting them to take part in athletics, but they’ve not had that opportunity of the full thing,” said Aberdeen AAC Club Manager, Jane Davidson.

Bringing Athletics to the Children

We were delighted to fund the summer camps to ensure these children had the opportunity to continue being active over the school holidays, with 40 children registered and the vast majority then attending.

This decision was made as the club looked at their membership statistics and realised there was a low turnout amongst those from D1 and D2 SIMD areas, with the track situated in one of these areas.

“The initial idea was to go into these areas and increase the opportunity for them to try athletics,” said Jane.

“That’s a really long process to kind of get the full circle. We’ve had a few club members come through, however, the camp was a really good opportunity for familiarisation of the track setting, which is another step in getting closer to feeling like they belong at the track, and could become a club member.

“It‘s primary school children that we’re dealing with, so I feel like it’s not quite ingrained in them yet, that culture. It’s important for us to go in and show them that athletics is fun and is cool.”

Creating Opportunities Off the Track

Jane, who is an international athlete and sits sixth on the Scottish all-time list in the women’s 100m hurdles, coaches at the sessions and likes to act as a role model along with other young coaches to show the appeal of athletics.

There is also a push to recruit local volunteers, including from secondary schools, with a pathway to become coaching assistants and possible employment opportunities. She adds that she has been proud to see these young people gain confidence as coaches, and shares her pride over children continuing to turn up.

“Success for us, is just that each week they’re coming back,” said Jane, “I think that sounds so basic, but for some of these kids, their one hour athletics with us each week might be the only extracurricular that they do.

“When I launched the summer camps last year, you never know how it’s going to go, so to see such large numbers from the community register to come to the Sports Village for the camp was really great for all our coaches to see.

“I think we were just as excited as they were to kind of see them come to the track. They were like in awe of what this is. This is like what we’re practising for in the game halls to come and jump in this sandpit.

“We want to see the athletes stick around in athletics, whether that’s on the track competing or coaching with us in some sort of capacity.”

“I think for us it was about exposing these children to the world-class facility at the Aberdeen Sports Village,” said Jane, “Many of them might not feel they maybe see that out of reach for them sometimes.

“That funding allowed us to make that booking, have our coaches and give them hours of athletics at this facility that they wouldn’t have had during their summer holidays if we didn’t have the funding.

“Programmes and money like this is really important for us.”

She said one of the key points to stress is to not fall on generalisations when thinking of a city’s makeup. Aberdeen is a city with a high GDP per capita, but also an area that has many citizens affected by poverty.

“Aberdeen, we take a lot of pride,” said Jane, “A lot of people think Aberdeen’s an affluent and well-off area, but obviously every city has their places.

“I think our clubs takes pride in our community programme and making sure that everyone has access.

“We’ve got one big track and it’s down to us to make sure everyone has access to that.”

The post Aberdeen AAC’s ambition to make athletics accessible for all appeared first on Athletics Trust Scotland.