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ESPC invite Commonwealth Gold Medal winner Libby Clegg to open new disabled access at Dunfermline Athletic FC

Commonwealth Gold medal winner Libby Clegg, sponsored by ESPC, spent Thursday afternoon with players, fans and staff at Dunfermline Athletic Football Club as it celebrates the official opening of the club’s new disabled access viewing gallery, toilet and catering kiosk.

The facility, which has been built with sponsorship from ESPC, will provide room for an additional six disabled users adding to the existing 24 spaces already in place.

Libby talked about how she got into sport, the challenges she faces as a disabled athlete, and how she overcame these to achieve her goals and the highlights of her career so far. She commented:-

“I’m excited to be attending Dunfermline Athletic Football Club to help celebrate the completion of this latest project which I’m sure will be greatly appreciated by the clubs disabled supporters. It’s great to see the football club continuing to improve facilities to help provide access for all to be able to enjoy sport in this way.”

Amy Walker, Marketing Manager at ESPC, said:-

“We are delighted to support Dunfermline Athletics’ new facility which will enable more disabled supporters to feel part of their local club. Since we started sponsoring Libby Clegg in 2012, she has inspired and enthused everyone she meets. She has overcome significant personal challenges to become a world leading athlete and is a fantastic role model for running and sport in general. The new disabled access is a welcome addition and gives disabled supporters an opportunity to support their club alongside other fans.”

Ross McArthur Director, DAFC said:-

“We greatly appreciate the sponsorship offered by ESPC which has allowed us to build this facility and delighted that Libby is one of the gallery’s first visitors. DAFC is also very grateful to Jim Thomson and the Purvis Group (once again!), David Barclay and his team at AK Moyes and Stevie Vaughan and his staff at Stephen Vaughan Electrical for their work in constructing the new facility. Their commitment and resource dedicated towards this project was fantastic and rightly deserve to be acknowledged.

"In addition, Rodney Shearer assisted greatly with manpower and Kevin Dawson, DAFC’s Groundsman has worked tirelessly in recent days pulling things together. Finally, our newly formed disability liaison group led by Ishbel Russell, supported by John Simpson and Drew Main also helped enormously with the more practical and technical implications.

"East End Park is already one of the best stadia in Scotland for disabled fans to visit – Joint Top in the Scottish Disabled Supporters Association’s League Table of grounds to visit! Our aim is to be the clear No 1 and to move on from there.

"At DAFC we believe that football can enrich the lives of everyone so we want to ensure that anyone with a disability can experience this enrichment too –there should be no barriers to enjoying football.

"We value everyone who comes through the gate, and believe football clubs have a moral duty to be inclusive, particularly as a community club, so even as we pursue our ambitions on the park we will devote resources to that end. Total Football = Total Access. There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes at East End Park as part of our wider Accessibility Programme, and it is hoped further positive developments will be announced in the coming weeks”