A Perth man is in line for a top honour after leaving his senior role at Tesco to work in disability sport.
Graeme Doig, 46, who grew up in the Oakbank area, is up for the community champion award in this year’s Scottish Sports Awards.
The ceremony will see the likes of Eve Muirhead, Eilish McColgan and Laura Muir vie for other prizes.
Ten years ago Graeme began volunteering in disability sport after his son Matthew, now 17, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
He first helped out at Perth Strathtay Harriers and has since been a dedicated local volunteer, giving up 20 hours of his time each week.
In 2018, Graeme quit his job at Tesco after 26 years of service to become Scottish Disability Sport’s Tayside manager.
In this role, he has set up a number of different disability sessions and sports clubs, including the Perth Eagles Wheelchair Sports and Boccia Club, where he is also a volunteer.
Secret nomination
Appearing on the awards shortlist came as a total surprise for Graeme, who has lived in Luncarty since 2003.
He was secretly nominated by a coach at Perth Strathtay Harriers, where he still volunteers.
“I got an email through last week and I didn’t even think it was genuine,” he said.
“And the next day people sent me messages congratulating me for the nomination. That is when it sank in.
“I am very humbled to be nominated.”
Worked up from the bottom
After leaving Perth High School Graeme went straight into a junior role at Tesco.
He worked at 13 different stores, including the supermarket’s branch on Crieff Road, as he progressed to becoming a senior manager.
Due to commuting demands, he moved to Dalgety Bay with his fiancee Laura, who still works at Tesco as head of customer operations.
Four years later they got married and returned to the Perth area to start a family.
As well as Matthew they are parents to Nathan, 14.
Wheelchair challenges
When Matthew was diagnosed with cerebral palsy it was the beginning of a steep learning curve for his father.
“It changed my outlook,” Graeme said.
“Growing up through school and in my very large extended family, there was no one with a disability.
“This was my first experience of being involved with a person with a disability.
“It was definitely eye-opening to see the challenges they face, the things we take for granted and don’t even think about.”
Such as?
“There’s very few drop-down kerbs for wheelchairs to get down,” he said.
“Sometimes you have to go half a mile to get the wheelchair down the kerb safely.”
Aspirations to be in the Paralympics
At the Harriers, Matthew developed a passion for frame running.
In this sport, athletes compete using a running bike – a pedal-free three-wheeled frame with a saddle and body support.
Participants use their legs to propel themselves forward.
“Matthew can’t run unaided but he can run extremely fast on a frame runner,” Graeme said.
“He loves going to class, he loves building up speed and is very very competitive as well – like his dad.
“He is excelling and exceeding all our expectations. The club has been so supportive as well.”
Matthew competes across the UK and has been to Denmark seven times for the CPISRA international frame running cup.
“He is progressing extremely well,” Graeme said.
“He has aspirations to be in the Paralympics and if he keeps going as he has been he should get there for Los Angeles Games in 2028.”
First cerebral palsy football team
Graeme often spends Saturdays volunteering with the athletics club.
On Sundays he usually takes a leading role at Syngenta Juveniles, the first Scottish football club to have a specific cerebral palsy team for children.
Matthew takes after his father as a St Johnstone-supporting football fan, so he was keen to get involved with the Grangemouth-based club.
Graeme initially attended as a parent helper before becoming a coach and then taking practice sessions.
If all that isn’t enough, he also spends around 10 hours a week volunteering at Perth Dolphins Disability Swim Club.
Tesco ‘wasn’t for me anymore’
Graeme enjoyed working for Tesco but this involved a lot of travelling.
Combined with the volunteering, his lifestyle had become very demanding.
“It just wasn’t for me anymore,” he said.
“My wife told me I should change my career if I could find something I am passionate about and I did that.
“I got training, qualifications and volunteered my heart out again.”
It worked, and he now runs the Perth and Kinross Disability Sport charity and also works for Scottish Disability Sport.
“I don’t have a job anymore – I have a lifestyle,” Graeme said.
“I love my job and I am very fortunate that my job is also my hobby, which is supporting sports clubs and volunteering.
“I actually love it. I love the difference it makes to people’s lives. It is very very rewarding.”
51 weekly sessions
Chief among his achievements is the fact that Perth and Kinross now have 51 different weekly sessions for people with disabilities.
Graeme says he has made this happen by working “with other like-minded people”.
“There is a really good menu of opportunities that there weren’t before,” he said.
“A number of those clubs and sessions have been created by myself in partnership with other people and other organisations.
“It is about bringing it all together so people know where to come if they want to get involved in a particular sport.”
Focus on ‘ability, not disability’
Graeme’s success stems not only from his ability to strategize but in his attitude.
He takes the same approach to other disabled athletes as he does to Matthew, who uses walking sticks and a wheelchair for longer distances.
“I am never one to focus on disability, I always focus on ability,” Graeme said.
“I see the person, not the disability.
“I focus on making adaptations to make sure they are included and having fun, maybe meeting new people, getting fitter and, for some people losing weight.
“It’s recreational for people who want to play and have fun but there is also a progressive side to it.
“I have seen my son go through it with Scottish athletics and I am helping a lot of people progress through pathways and go into competitions at home and abroad.”
Cadyn for Scotland
One of the athletes he has helped at Perth Eagles is Cadyn Thomson.
The 18-year-old is currently Scotland’s vice-captain at the wheelchair rugby league world cup in England.
Graeme wants to see the likes of Cadyn receive more recognition.
“During the Paralympics, there is lots of stuff in the media about disability sport but then there’s nothing after that, even though there are lots of world and European championships going on,” he said.
“I want to raise the profile and let people know what is going on.
“Another reason I do this is to see the smiles on the faces of our athletes.
“You realise you are doing a really good job when you see those smiles.”
Conversation