Equality

Scottish Athletics Ltd (trading as scottishathletics) endorses the principle of sports equality and will strive to ensure that everyone who wishes to be involved in athletics (in all its disciplines and forms), whether as athletes, casual participants, club members, officials, volunteers, coaches, office-bearers in clubs or those within the governance structure of scottishathletics:

• has a genuine and equal opportunity to participate to the full extent of their own ambitions and abilities, without regard to their age, sex, gender identity, disability, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, religion, race, socioeconomic status or sexual orientation; and
• can be assured of an environment in which their rights, dignity and individual worth are respected, and in particular that they are able to enjoy their sport without the threat of intimidation, victimisation, harassment or abuse.

You can also download:

• Our equality policy
• Our policy on non-binary athletes competing within Scottish National Championships
• Our equality guidance for clubs
• The Scottish Athletics Diversity Calendar 2025
• The World Athletics – eligibility regulations for transgender athletes March 2023
• The UKA Transgender and Differences of Sexual Development Principle-Statements – March-2023

If you have a query relating to equality at scottishathletics, please contact our equalities officer, Francesca Snitjer.

Certifications

scottishathletics is proud to have achieved the Advanced level of the Equality Standard for Sport.

scottishathletics is signatory of the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter. This provides a framework for employers to take practical steps to ensure that their workplaces are tackling barriers that ethnic minority people face in recruitment. With the support of BITC, scottishathletics as a signatory is committed to delivering the five principles of the Charter:

• Appoint an Executive Sponsor for race
• Capture ethnicity data and publicise progress
• Commit at Board level to zero tolerance of harassment and bullying
• Make clear that supporting equality in the workplace is the responsibility of all leaders and managers
• Take action that supports ethnic minority career progression

Equality and diversity advisory group

As part of our ongoing work to uphold the principles and values of equality across our sport, we have established a voluntary equality and diversity advisory group to assist us in leading the way.

The group has members from a variety of backgrounds, experience and perspectives who are passionate about equality and committed to pursuing it within athletics. The group’s remit is to provide advice and guidance on all equality matters; ensuring practical, strategic and operational support is sustained for the development and delivery of our equality action plan, in addition to supporting our equality working group and board members in relation to equality and diversity.

Cara Shearer
Cara is an accomplished and passionate sports development professional with over a decade of experience in successfully supporting innovative groups with an EDI remit, including Scottish Women in Sport, LEAP Sports Scotland and Scottish Sporting Futures. Embracing a holistic and evidence-based approach to sport development has given her a unique perspective and skill set in ensuring pragmatic, strategic, and operational support is accessible to groups striving to diversify the sporting system. She currently works for sportscotland as a Partnership Manager, and her experiences within the sporting sector are underpinned by a PhD from the Physical Activity Exchange, focusing on community participation and engaging underrepresented groups.

Alasdair Donaldson
Alasdair is an experienced leader in the sports profession with extensive knowledge in both performance and strategic management.
With experience primarily in the Paralympic sector, he has gained a great deal of understanding of the barriers which face people with disabilities in being able to access sport in general. Currently working for British Triathlon as Paralympic Talent and Development Manager, Alasdair has a good understanding of the Equality Standards for Sport required of the National Governing Bodies.

Noanie Heffron
A keen ultra-runner, Noanie is also race director for Jedburgh Three Peaks Ultramarathon and assistant race director for Highland Fling Ultramarathon. With a solid working knowledge of the various protected characteristics covered by the 2010 Equality Act, Noanie has a particular interest in the issues faced by non-binary people. This passion has led her to persuading the Jedburgh Running Festival Committee to add a third gender category to all of their events. Noanie has a proven track record of developing effective equality partnerships having worked collaboratively with various LGBTI sports groups and charities and providing assistance to Scottish Athletics with their proposal to allow for the inclusion of a third gender category in mass participation events.

Graeme Stewart
Graeme’s role as Club Development Officer at Harmeny AC and his background in Equality Law, make him a great asset to this group. In his role as Club Development Officer, he has operated at both corporate and managerial level dealing with charitable organisations and community groups such as the Clovenstone Community Centre and SCORE Scotland. Together with the Club (who were voted Scottish Athletics Impact Club of the Year 2019) Graeme works hard to address areas of inequality and working with harder to reach groups; supporting disability athletics provisions at schools, establishing links with local disability athletics clubs, and providing accessible opportunities for adults to progress from inactive to active. Graeme has a keen interest in sports and has not only successfully completed the Scottish Athletics Coaching Assistant Course but is also a qualified Cycle Scotland coach.

Richard (Ric) Clark

As a passionate fan and participant in athletics, Ric is a welfare office at Edinburgh AC and volunteers in areas such as media, events organisation and home baking. He started running as a fifteen-year-old and then after playing senior rugby until he was 39, came back into the fold of athletics.

Ric is autistic and has ADHD and he has a chromosome disorder. He knows first-hand how running and sport can support and improve mental health for participants, and he wants to help make Scottish Athletics as open and diverse as possible.

He works in Data for Miller Homes in Edinburgh. He is a Trustee for St Andrews Children’s Society, a panel member for ScotGov’s LEAP for their bill to support people with learning disabilities and neurodivergent people, as well as being a Brand ambassador for US non-profit Chromodiversity foundation.

 Julie McElroy

Julie McElroy is a trailblazing advocate and practitioner in Para sport, whose leadership and lived experience in disabilities continue to shape the landscape of inclusive athletics in Scotland and beyond. A member of Victoria Park Athletics Club, Julie made history at the London Marathon 2024 as the first frame runner to take part, an achievement that exemplifies her commitment to breaking barriers and redefining possibility.

With over two decades of experience driving inclusive change, Julie has worked alongside individuals, organisations, and communities to promote accessibility, equity, and sustainable participation in sport. Her governance expertise includes serving as a Non-Executive Director for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, where she contributes strategic insight and influence on high-level decision-making around equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Julie’s role as Welfare Officer at Victoria Park Athletics Club reflects her hands-on commitment to safeguarding athlete wellbeing and dedication to inclusive environments.

From 2017 to 2021, Julie served as Head of Recreation for the Cerebral Palsy International Sport and Recreation Association, further deepening her understanding of the structural supports required to advance Para sport globally. Her unique blend of lived experience as a frame runner and professional expertise positions her to offer both strategic input and authentic perspective to the Scottish Athletics EDI Advisory Group.

Jack Brodie

Jack is a passionate and experienced sports development professional with a strong commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion. With lived experience of disability, he brings both personal insight and professional expertise to his work, championing inclusive practice and helping to remove barriers to participation in sport.

As Club Development Manager at Scottish Squash, Jack leads on all aspects of EDI, working to build a more diverse, welcoming, and accessible squash community. He also serves as Vice Chair of Lothian Disability Sport, where he advocates for increased representation and meaningful opportunities across all levels of disability sport.

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