Chris Hoy to Headline The Calling in Glasgow — Why His Leadership Message Lands Now

chris hoy will be the headline speaker at The Calling, a one-day national leadership summit in Glasgow on October 2. The timing matters: the event arrives after a formal launch earlier this year and amid Hoy’s public reflections on resilience while living with a serious health diagnosis. That combination is shaping expectations that this summit will foreground practical, experience-led lessons for aspiring leaders across Scottish society.

Why the timing and tone matter for Scottish leaders

The Calling positions itself as more than a stage appearance; organisers have framed it as a national attempt to "inspire, equip and connect" leaders across business, education, family life and community. Here’s the part that matters: bringing a high-profile figure who has publicly reflected on response and resilience makes the summit a test case for how personal experience is being used to teach leadership in public fora.

Event basics and format

The Calling is a one-day summit set for October 2 at the SEC Armadillo in Glasgow. The inaugural programme will include keynote talks, panel discussions, teaching sessions and live performances. The event was launched formally earlier this year and is produced by the charitable Peter Vardy Foundation.

Chris Hoy’s expected contribution and recent context

Chris Hoy will address aspiring Scottish leaders, drawing on his record as an Olympic and world cycling champion—his profile in the context materials notes six Olympic gold medals and 11 world championship wins. Materials also state he was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer in 2023 and has publicly discussed resilience, perspective and mindset while facing that challenge. Paraphrasing his remarks: leadership, he says, is revealed by how you respond when plans go awry; resilience means facing reality and choosing how to respond, not pretending everything is fine. The context also contains a fragment that reads he has "announced that he has an untreatable form of cance" — unclear in the provided context.

Programme contributors and production

The event was founded by entrepreneur Peter Vardy and will be produced by the Peter Vardy Foundation. The programme will be hosted by television presenter Dan Walker, with additional speakers listed as Jon Acuff and Dr Jo Salter MBE, who is identified as Britain’s first female fast jet pilot. Music at the summit will be provided by the Red Hot Chilli Pipers. Peter Vardy’s business background is referenced through his automotive enterprise (noted as an eponymous business founded in Scotland two decades ago) and named operations include Peter Vardy Motor Group and CarMoney. Vardy has been quoted praising the decision to secure Hoy as headline speaker and saying Hoy represents excellence, resilience and humility.

Foundation work and programmes that feed into The Calling

The Peter Vardy Foundation’s involvement is presented as an extension of existing work in early intervention and leadership. The foundation’s long-standing activity includes a programme called Gen+, described as teaching meta-skills and leadership behaviours to tens of thousands of pupils across Scotland. The Calling is framed as building on that foundation work to reach a broader national audience.

• Launched formally earlier this year — The Calling unveiled as a national leadership gathering.
• October 2 — one-day summit at the SEC Armadillo in Glasgow.
• Production and founder details — event created by Peter Vardy, produced by the Peter Vardy Foundation; Peter Vardy’s automotive business was founded in Scotland about two decades ago and includes operations named Peter Vardy Motor Group and CarMoney.
• Programme highlights — hosts and contributors include Dan Walker, Jon Acuff, Dr Jo Salter MBE; music from Red Hot Chilli Pipers.
• Foundation tie-ins — Gen+ programme teaches meta-skills to tens of thousands of pupils across Scotland.
• Forward signal: confirmation of the full speaker list and programme schedule will clarify how the summit balances motivational testimony with practical leadership training.

It’s easy to overlook, but the organisers have deliberately connected an established youth-focused programme to a mainstream leadership summit — that link will determine whether the event is primarily inspirational or operational for attendees seeking concrete skill-building.

The real question now is how attendees will translate the emphasis on resilience and mindset into day-to-day leadership practice after October 2. chris hoy’s participation clearly shapes the summit’s tone; the event’s follow-up plans and the release of a detailed programme will confirm whether it becomes a one-off showcase or the start of a sustained national leadership initiative.