Published: 02 May 2024

New partnership boosts mobility in sports for disabled Scots

Category: Partnerships

Great news for disabled people in Scotland – Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) and the Motability Scheme have teamed up to make sport more accessible and fun for everyone in Scotland, especially for people with disabilities.

The partnership will help showcase the range of disability sports available across the country, providing opportunities for disabled people to access them alongside their family members. It will also raise awareness and increase understanding among the hundreds of eligible Scots who are not yet using the Motability Scheme and benefitting from the independent mobility it provides.

The Motability Scheme, delivered by Motability Operations, helps more than 72,000 disabled people across Scotland to access independent mobility through leasing a car, scooter or powered wheelchair. It includes a with a worry-free package of insurance, servicing and breakdown cover.

Gavin Thomson, managing director Scotland at Motability Operations said: "The Motability Scheme breaks down barriers to mobility across Scottish society and we are thrilled to be working with Scottish Disability Sport to support, encourage and improve participation in sport.

“Sport has a unique capacity to bring groups together in an inclusive way and SDS’s values of inclusion, respect, integrity, and ambition align perfectly with ours. We are both purpose-led organisations that exist to improve the everyday lives of disabled people.”

SDS, the governing and coordinating body for disability sport in Scotland, aims to deliver inclusion through sport, supporting individuals with disabilities to participate, perform and achieve at all levels.

As part of the agreement, the Motability Scheme will become title sponsor of SDS’s 2024 national events calendar, which engages more than 2,500 disabled participants across Scotland. Offering disability-specific national championships and competition across seven sports including athletics, swimming, football, basketball, archery, bowls, and the Paralympic sport of boccia.

The Motability Scheme will also become the title sponsor of SDS’s flagship education and training programmes, facilitating their work with primary and secondary teachers in eight local authorities, with a specific provision for educators on vision impairment, and a series of workshops for the SDS branch network, covering every region in Scotland.

Gavin MacLeod, CEO of Scottish Disability Sport said: “This partnership with the Motability Scheme represents an exciting opportunity to further our mission of promoting inclusion through sport. Together, we will work towards removing barriers that prevent disabled Scots from participating in sports and ensure that sporting opportunities are accessible to all.”

SDS and their 14 member branches, work closely with 32 local authorities and 37 sport governing bodies across Scotland. They govern and coordinate sports for people of all ages and abilities with physical, sensory, and learning disabilities.

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Notes to editors

Notes to editors:

About Motability Operations and the Motability Scheme:

We are the commercial company that delivers the Motability Scheme to over 750,000 disabled people and their families, helping them access independent mobility.

Since we began running the Motability Scheme 45 years ago, we have helped more than 5 million people get moving. People who receive higher or enhanced mobility allowance, or adult or child disability payment can join the scheme. They decide to use their allowance to choose from a wide range of cars, wheelchair accessible vehicles, powered wheelchairs or scooters.

Our scale and relationship with manufacturers ensures we provide the very best technology and design.

Customers lease their vehicle for 3-5 years in a worry-free package that includes insurance, servicing, tyres and breakdown cover. At the end of the lease they can choose a brand-new vehicle and we remarket their old vehicle at the best possible price. We are the largest supplier of used cars in the UK.

We don’t pay shareholder dividends and the money we make is invested back into benefitting our customers and disabled mobility.

We pride ourselves on knowing and understanding our customers and have expectational customer service at the heart of everything we do. We have an average of 9.6/10 customer satisfaction rating.

We are a purpose-led organisation that exists to improve the everyday mobility of disabled people. This partnership with Scottish Disability Sport is part of a wider programme of activity which sees the Motability Scheme support relevant organisations with values and ambitions that align with ours. We have been working with British Wheelchair Basketball since 2023 and earlier this year announced a partnership with competitive, all-disabled racing team, Team BRIT.

About Scottish Disability Sport:

Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) is the Scottish governing and co-coordinating body of all sports for children, athletes and players of all ages and abilities with a physical, sensory or learning disability.

SDS's vision is to ensure that all sport and physical activity in Scotland are welcoming and inclusive for participants with disabilities. Through strong leadership and effective partnerships, SDS will engage and sustain participants, support athlete progression and influence change.