I draw members’ attention to my entry in the register of members’ interests. I am a general practitioner in the national health service.

I thank everyone who has contributed to the committee’s evidence-gathering process. Participation in sport, or simply making physical exercise part of our daily or weekly routines, is crucial for health and wellbeing. That applies to each and every one of us. Exercise reduces the risk of chronic diseases and fosters a much healthier population. As the statistics show, Scotland is not healthy. As parliamentarians, through our communications and policies we must be able to create the conditions in which more and more people adopt healthier lifestyles. With regard to women and girls, however, we need to go much further.

Our Health, Social Care and Sport Committee has discussed in depth how female participation in sport and physical exercise empowers women, and builds confidence, resilience and a sense of accomplishment that extends beyond the playing field. Moreover, increased female participation contributes to breaking gender stereotypes, advances inclusivity and cultivates a more equitable society in which everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

Of course, participation comes in many forms, from groups of walkers to the local boxercise class, and even to competing at high level.

Participation is not just for school pupils or for the under-30s, though. Last Friday, the 2023 Scottish women in sport awards ceremony was held in Glasgow. The awards recognise and celebrate the hard work, dedication and commitment that enable young girls and women to participate in every aspect of sporting life. Guess who won the award for team Scotland team of the year? It was Scotland’s over-60s masters hockey team. Our over-60s women players were crowned European champions, after beating England in a nail-biting final.

The Scottish Sports Association has been following our committee’s work very closely. It is reassuring to know that the SSA feels that our recommendations provide a strong foundation from which to advance female participation in sports and exercise. However, the SSA goes further and highlights a number of areas that will be of particular importance if we are to optimise the sporting environment for our women and girls. I would like to cover some of those in my remaining speaking time.

To create the conditions for greater participation we need to change our culture around spending on sport and physical activity, which should be seen not as a cost but as an investment. I will give an example of why we need to change our thinking about funding for sport. I will stick with the example of hockey.

On the edge of Glasgow Green is a fantastic facility—the national hockey centre, which was built in 2013 at a cost of £5 million. It is one of the city’s 2014 Commonwealth games legacy venues, but it is not fully open. Since last September, Glasgow Life, which is owned by the city of Glasgow and runs its culture and sports facilities, has continued to rent pitches for training and competitive matches. However, it has not yet opened the changing facilities, the first aid room or the cafe, despite the fact that Scottish hockey’s governing body is a legal tenant of the facility and will be so until 2032. That seems to be strange, does it not?

With their having no use of the changing or other facilities, hockey players are expected to walk to a neighbouring football ground to change before and after matches. Let us all close our eyes and picture the scene. A hundred yards away, football players have changing facilities, but the people who enjoy another key sport, hockey, are provided with a second-rate service in a relatively new facility.

Glasgow Life currently seems to be happy to take payments for pitch bookings, but it is not so keen on providing the full facilities. I am told that Glasgow Life does not have the funds to operate the national hockey centre normally. Too many of Scotland’s cultural and sporting assets that are based in Glasgow do not receive the national funding that they need in order to operate—they are often squeezed by Scottish Government funding cuts to our local authorities.

We need to look at solving such problems not through the prism of cost, but through that of investment. The social return on such spend comes in improved physical and mental health. Investment in sports and exercise remains one of the best buys in population health and wellbeing—it is miles better than any black Friday deal.