A DUNFERMLINE man has been included in a list of the top 100 most influential disabled people in the UK.

Retired para athlete Stefan Hoggan, 26, made the Shaw Trust Power 100 for his efforts in sport and also for his activism in LGBTQI+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, and Intersex) and disability rights.

The announcement came just days before he tied the knot with partner Damian Radu in a ceremony at Edinburgh City Chambers on Friday.

Stefan was delighted and honoured to be included on the prestigious list.

"There are a lot of amazing people on the list," he said. "I knew I was going to be included for the last six to seven weeks but it was top secret.

"We weren't told why we had been included. Obviously I had a pretty good idea it was to do with my sports but also my activism for LGBTQI+ and disability rights and how I campaign for Scottish independence. Although it was partly down to my sports, it was nice that they included a lot of wider things."

Stefan began swimming at just three. He was born without a lower right arm and took up para-triathlon in 2015 after missing out on competing at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in swimming. He finished sixth at the WTE triathlon in Detroit.

At 24, having represented Scotland for more than 10 years, Stefan retired from professional sport and now coaches the next generation of competitive swimmers at Carnegie Swimming Club.

Stefan is prominent in the campaign for Scottish independence and also campaigns passionately against bullying.

He says: “I believe that everyone, no matter their age, race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or gender identity, has the right to live their lives free from bullying, discrimination and hate, and that’s what I’ll always continue to fight for.”

In 2018, Stefan championed the Scottish Time for Inclusive Education campaign which saw Scotland become the first country in the world to introduce LGBTQI+ inclusive sex education lessons. He is the patron of Pop’n’Olly, an LGBTQI+ educational resource whose videos and books are used in UK primary schools to teach about equality and diversity.

Stefan also sits on Scottish Disability Sport’s Young Person’s Sport Panel and is an ambassador of LEAP Sports Scotland, challenging discrimination about sexual orientation and gender identity within sport.

Currently working in a freelance capacity in the communications industry, Stefan, of St Margaret Street, also spends time going into schools talking to youngsters about issues he has experienced in his life.

"Sport has given me the opportunity to be able to do all of this," he explained. "I was born with half an arm and I was bullied a lot as a kid so that made me want to help people who get bullied.

"I go into schools and talk about how I was bullied and how it is not OK and try and encourage kids to report bullies earlier so they don't experience what I went through. I went through sport as a teenager knowing I was gay but I didn't want to come out because I was scared of what team-mates would think. "Everything came together for me in 2016. I retired, met my soon-to-be husband and it all came together."