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Getting into the Commonwealth sporting spirit

Ahead of the 2026 Commonwealth Games taking place in Glasgow, we teamed up with Age Scotland and City of Glasgow College to host a series of special Sporting Memories sessions for people based in the city.

Our ‘Together In Sport’ sessions took place at the College and invited people involved with Age Scotland’s diverse community groups from the city to participate in a range of sporting activities and discussions. This followed our successful event held earlier this year at Maryhill Community Central Hall.

The sessions took place on Friday mornings over the course of June and saw attendees get stuck into some of the sports on offer including netball – which is one of the sports of Glasgow 2026 – alongside other sports such as badminton, boccia, indoor curling and walking cricket.

The sessions were made possible through funding via the Glasgow 2026 Festival Fund, which is supporting community-led cultural, sporting, and arts projects across Glasgow in the lead-up to and during the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Three weeks of Together in Sport

The first session was supported by Fiona Gillespie, from the Glasgow 2026 team, who brought along some Commonwealth Games goodies for everyone in attendance and gave attendees the chance to have their picture taken with a selfie board!

For the following two sessions, a team of young volunteers from St Mungo’s Academy supported by Sporting Memories staff helped to deliver the sports on offer and engaged the attendees from diverse backgrounds to discuss their favourite sports.

Over the course of the weeks, there was overwhelming positive feedback from the attendees about how they enjoyed their time during the sessions. Many of those who came along commented that they hadn’t played any sports since they were young.

One gentleman in his eighties stated how important it was for him to be active at his age and expressed his gratitude for being part of the sessions. A woman, also in her eighties, came along to Together In Sport with a friend and wasn’t afraid to try everything the sessions had to offer.

Following the successful running of these sessions at Glasgow College, we are aiming to continue the Friday activity sessions in the Autumn with support from St Mungo’s Academy and College students. Further details on these sessions will be confirmed in due course.

Reaction

Yvonne Friel, one of our Community Club Coordinators, reflected on the Together In Sport sessions held at the college.

“We were delighted to see how enthused everyone was during their time with us at Glasgow College, with all enjoying the activities – some being more competitive than others. It was a joy to be a part of!

“We received so many positive comments on if they weren’t at the session they would be at home doing nothing, so we’re glad that Sporting Memories has given them the encouragement to get out and have fun!”

Gregor Cree, Active Campus Coordinator at City of Glasgow College was delighted to support the partnership.

“These fun sessions are what the Active Campus programme is all about. Seeing this amazing group of elderly ladies and gentlemen from our local diverse communities get stuck into some sport and physical activity is really encouraging. We look forward to running this again after the summer!”

A big thank you to Age Scotland, City of Glasgow College and St.Mungo’s Academy for supporting us to run our Together In Sport sessions!