Let every child achieve their ambitions
Ambassador: Athlete and Founder of What’s Your Meta?
We ask James McCallum, who represented Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Melbourne, Delhi and Glasgow, winning a bronze medal in Melbourne in 2006, about his dreams, what motivates him, how his parents supported him and how he supports other children to realise their dreams.
“As a child I always knew I wanted to be a professional athlete. I remember spending a lot of time on my bike and when my gran bought me my first racer I realised racing was what I wanted to do.
“As well as my gran, my parents put a lot of time and effort into supporting me from teaching me how to ride to dedicating every weekend driving me all around the country to races.
“My parents were always super- supportive and wanted me to do my best. They never put any pressure on me though.
“Becoming a professional cyclist was a dream come true and the icing on the cake was winning Bronze at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games.
“What better dream is there than to represent your country on the world stage?”
James believes it is vital that we allow children to be inspired and to dream.“I have always wanted to show children that it is possible to realise your dreams and encourage them to never give up.”
As a father to Penelope, three and James believes he must lead by example.