SOGB Year In Review

2010

YEAR IN REVIEW

The Board of Directors would like to extend their sincere thanks to all our athletes, families, coaches, volunteers, ambassadors and staff for your continued dedication to the organisation.

And to our corporate partners, sponsors and donors a special thanks for your generous support.

Year In review Credits: Editor: Karen Wallin Copy Editing/Production Editing: Andrea Zapata If you have any comments or queries in regards to this publication please email Andrea Zapata at andrea.zapata@sogb.org.uk Special Olympics Great Britain, Corinthian House, 1st Floor, 6-8 Great Eastern Street, London EC2A 3NT Website: www.specialolympicsgb.org.uk Registered in accordance with the Charities Act 1960 no. 800329

Premier Partner: Donors and Supporters:

Official Partners:

Chapman Charitable Trust, EsmĂŠe Fairbairn Foundation, EU, JWT, Lexis PR, Lions Clubs International (MD105), Microsoft, Onside Law, Piggybank Kids, Royal & Ancient, The Baily Thomas Charitable Fund, The Coutts Charitable Trust, The Geoff & Fiona Squire Foundation, The Gerald Micklem Charitable Trust,The Henry Smith Charity, The John Ellerman Foundation, The Jomati Foundation, The Leathersellers' Company Charitable Fund, The Pennies Foundation, The Rank Foundation, The Scotshill Trust, Simpson Wreford & Partners, The Vodafone Foundation.

Ambassadors: Olympic Champions Darren Campbell MBE and Katharine Merry, England Women’s Football Coach Hope Powell, Tennis legend Mark Cox, NBA superstar John Amaechi, British Ski Champion and BBC-TV presenter Graham Bell, World and Olympic Champion Canoeist Anna Hemmings, Extreme Kayaker Shaun Baker, football legend Ossie Ardiles, former PGA professional golfer and mind coach Karl Morris, Special Olympics GB athletes Georgina Hulme and Moira Brown, as well as TV personalities Armand Beasley, Tina Baker and Shobna Gulati.

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Foreword By Lawrie McMenemy, MBE 2010 was another great year for Special Olympics Great Britain. The charity has continued growing steadily both in quality and size, whilst transforming the lives of thousands of people with learning disabilities through sports.

Lawrie McMenemy MBE

Our thousands of volunteers supported by the small team at national office have carried on working hard to excel and get the most of the limited resources available; and there are lots of great achievements to celebrate and highlight from throughout the year.

Find out about the developments of our sports and competition programme (page 6), and enjoy reading about the success of our athletes, who - once again - make us all very proud when competing both nationally and internationally.

During 2010, we sent squads to compete abroad, including a GB team of 46 athletes who competed at the 2010 Special Olympics European Summer Games in Warsaw (page 14), – and finally, between you and I - as a football man, I was more inspired by our strong Unified Football team winning silver in Istanbul (page 11), than with the achievements of the England team at the World Cup in South Africa!

But it is not just in the sporting arena that our athletes have excelled in 2010, our Athlete Leadership Programme continued to benefit our athletes (page 26) as they find their own voices and enjoy learning new skills.

Finally, 2010 was also the year I decided to retire as Chairman of the Board of Directors and was honoured to be appointed as President and will head up a new Honorary Board, giving the opportunity to a new generation to lead the charity’s day to day activities. I am confident that under the leadership of our new Chairman Murton Mann, Special Olympics GB will continue to move forward to achieve its goals for the future.

After my fantastic experience as Chairman over the last five years, I would like to thank each and every person that helps to make Special Olympics GB special, especially our 8,000 athletes, their families and 2,800 volunteers around Great Britain.

With warmest best wishes,

Lawrie McMenemy MBE President

Content What is special about Special Olympics?

4 Sports & Services 6 European Summer Games 14 Our Partners 18 Our Athletes 26 Campaigns 32

Despite the financially constrained period we are all experiencing, we are proud to acknowledge that all our corporate partners (page 18) continued their support in 2010, we are sincerely grateful for their ongoing commitment and are delighted that many have also agreed to extend their partnership with Special Olympics GB for the following years.

40 pages are not enough to cover all the great work we did in 2010! Find out more Special Olympics GB’s stories and photos at

There are many stories to share from across the organisation including fundraising and awareness efforts (page 32) and the great initiatives and partnerships originated at local and regional level around GB!.

www.specialolympicsgb.org. uk/news-media_news-stories/ 3

What is Special about Special Olympics GB? Special Olympics Great Britain is a UK registered charity dedicated to transforming the lives of people with learning disabilities through sports activities.

We are Great Britain’s largest provider of year-round sports training and competition for adults and children with learning disabilities, regardless of their ability. We currently serve 8,000 children and adults with learning disabilities who are supported by 2,800 volunteers.

People with learning disabilities have a life-long mental impairment (IQ of 75 or below), which means that they can have different limitations to communicate, move, learn and even to carry out tasks that those without learning disabilities may find easy.

People with learning disabilities do not just face day to day challenges and limitations to live their lives, but also isolation and discrimination in society due mostly to the lack of awareness and misconceptions about learning disabilities.

This is why Special Olympics GB encourages every individual with learning disabilities to take part, train and compete in any of the 26 summer and winter sports we offer.

As any person that takes part in sport, our athletes also become more self-confident, while improving their fitness, health and wellbeing. What it is more, thanks to Special Olympics our athletes discover new abilities and talents. And for many, they have, for the first time, not only teammates, but mates!

Special Olympics GB training sessions and competitions are in many cases the only opportunity that our athletes have to interact with other people and feel part of their community. This is one of the reasons why Special Olympics is special!

Special Olympics GB offers a safe and professional environment for all people with learning disabilities to take up and play different sports. Our qualified sport coaches, supported by dedicated volunteers around the country, provide training and competition programmes all year-round and in a welcoming and inclusive environment.

Another reason why we are special is because we transform not just the lives of people with learning disabilities, but the lives of their families and carers too.

In Great Britain there are an estimated 1.2 million people with a learning disability, and when you consider families, friends and carers, the total footprint of those touched by learning disabilities is near to 12 million people. Special Olympics is the place for families to meet other families, get support, or even their chance to have some time free, while their learning disabled relative is training or competing.

As a volunteer led organisation, Special Olympics GB also transforms the lives of thousands of volunteers, who besides benefiting from giving something back to their communities, also make new friends, learn new skills and are inspired by the determination and spirit of our athletes.

We also transform the lives of our athletes families

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Thanks to Special Olympics many athletes have not only teammates, but mates

We are proud to be special and - in many cases - the only local sports programme where people with learning disabilities can take part in regular sports activities. We want more people with learning disabilities to have the chance to take part in the Special Olympics sports programme and our main goal now is to recruit a further 12,000 athletes and a minimum of 3,000 coaches by the end of 2013.

The Movement We are part of the global Special Olympics Movement started in 1968 when the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver (President John F. Kennedy’s sister) organised a day camp for people with learning disabilities at her home in America. Today Special Olympics is present in 200 countries with over 3.25 million registered athletes worldwide.Â

At a Glance

8,000 athletes

2,800

volunteers

135 Special Olympics clubs in England, Scotland and Wales

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Sports

Learning disability in GB Around 1.2 million people have a learning disability 200 babies will be born this week with a learning disability Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded the Special Olympics Movement in 1968

The number of adults with a learning disability is predicted to increase 14% by 2021.* *Source: Emerson & Hatton (2008) People with Learning Disabilities in England. Lancaster

Our Goal To grow our sports programme from 8,000 athletes to 20,000 and from 2,800 volunteers to 6,000 by 2013

University.

Are we like the Paralympics?

No! But we are part of the Olympic family. We offer sports training and competition opportunities all year-round to athletes of all abilities who have a learning disability.

The Paralympics is only for elite athletes (the best of the best) with disabilities. Paralympics athletes can have physical disabilities (i.e. amputees), be blind and/ or deaf, as well as learning disabled. These elite athletes go through a strict selection process and training and competition programmes before competing in the Paralympic Games held every four years following the Olympic Games.

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Sport & Services 2010 Highlights Despite the financial climate, in 2010 Special Olympics GB has evidence of growth. The charity accredited nine new Special Olympics clubs and negotiated the set up of eight new clubs in the South West of the Country.

In 2010 there were further developments in our Unified Football programme (page 11), and we staged our first National Bocce competition.

The charity also launched Motor Activities Training Programme ÂŽ workshops and piloted it to 40 young athletes with severe and profound learning disabilities. We continued also to deliver Athlete Leadership Programme opportunities, including two athletes age 14 and 16 who attended the Special Olympics European Youth Summit (page 26) It seems that our sports calendar gets busier year by year. In 2010 our athletes participated at 27 local, 49 regional and seven national competitions. At international level, GB teams competed at 11 invitational competitions.

Basketball is one of the 26 sports Special Olympics GB offers

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Two key achievements by GB athletes in 2010 were: the Unified Football GB team winning silver at the Special Olympics European Youth Unified Football Tournament and our GB teams excellent performance at the Special Olympics European Summer Games in Warsaw (page 14).

Banbury Office Special Olympics GB opened an office in Banbury in March 2010 where the National Volunteer Manager, Gaye Barber, and a small administrative volunteer team are based. The office is dedicated to the overall management of the charity’s volunteer programme, including recruitment, training and development of our large volunteer network, as well as further development of the Special Olympics GB employee volunteer programme with our corporate partners (page 18).

The new Banbury office is an asset to the expansion of Special Olympics GB, which already has offices in London and Bedford.

Our athletes compete at local, regional and international levels

More sports opportunities for people with severe learning disabilities Special Olympics GB’s commitment to offer more sports opportunities to people with severe and profound learning disabilities across the country is reflected by its efforts to further develop its Motor Activities Training Programme ® (MATP) in 2010.

MATP is specifically designed to help in the development of motor skills of people with severe and profound learning disabilities.

In May, two ‘Introduction to Motor Activities Training Programme’ workshops were delivered in the country. The first workshop took place in Lincoln’s Bishop Grosseteste University College (12 May) and the second at Walton Leigh School in Surrey (17 May).

Angy Morley, Secretary of Special Olympics Lincolnshire, attended the workshop in Lincoln and said: “One person’s view of the day was that this was the first time that profound multi-learning disability athletes have been considered in sport!”

Sue Frett, Secretary of Special Olympics Surrey, added: “the club is now able to bring together all disabilities including those that have multiple and profound disabilities. No one is excluded.”

The charity aims to further develop this programme by offering it to both schools and day centres throughout Great Britain in 2011.

New Website In November 2010 we celebrated the launch of the charity’s new website after a year-long research and development process helmed by Andrea Zapata, our Communications Manager. Our website has a fresh, clear and brand new look, which together with a robust and flexible content and a good accessibility aims to improve the awareness of Special Olympics GB work and the ways individuals and organisations can get involved and support. To visit our site go to: www.specialolympicsgb.org.uk 2011 will see further developments and improvements to the website areas of ‘Find a club’ and the roll out of the regions and clubs accreditation online.

MATP helps in the development of motor skills

“the club is now able to bring together all disabilities including those that have multiple and profound disabilities. No one is excluded.”

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England takes Triple Crown for the first time!

Eight teams of learning disabled golfers from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales came together in the challenge for the Special Olympics Triple Crown Trophy at the Drumoig Hotel & Golf Resort in Scotland (6 - 7 September 2010), which saw England winning the tournament for the first time.

Scottish Minister for Sport and Health, Shona Robson opened the competition, and 32 golfers paraded in by country, accompanied by the inspirational sound of bagpipes. On day one the skies were filled with glorious sunshine followed by a day drenched in rain. But through it all a spirit of good will and camaraderie prevailed as England took the crown from two-time winners Ireland. Established in 2007, The Triple Crown Golf Tournament is one of the highlights of the Special Olympics golf programme.

More golf highlights: Seven athletes visited the Ryder Cup 2010 (28 September) held for the first time in Wales. They enjoyed a tour to the media centre and part of the golf course, when watching the practice ground they all spotted Tiger Woods!

Also, earlier in the year, Special Olympics GB was pleased to announce that golfer Padraig Harrington has joined the Special Olympics family as Global Ambassador. When Harrington played at Wentworth (20 May) he took time to meet Special Olympics GB athletes Georgina Harris, Karen Oosthuizen, Alan Booth, Hilary Thomas, and Scott Hastings, and said: “I believe that the game of golf can inspire Special Olympics athletes to reach for their goals and enjoy the benefits the game brings.”

nadine morris, special olympics gb golf manager, explained: “Golf may not be an Olympic sport until 2012, but it has been a Special Olympics sport for over 10 years!

In GB our golf programme is constantly evolving with ongoing relationships with The R&A, European Tour, and Tri-Golf with the Golf Foundation.”

Gb golfers excel in Denmark Six golfers selected from the Highlands, Scotland West and North West regions competed at the Special Olympics Idraetsfestival celebrated in Naestved, Denmark (28-30 May), where over 600 athletes, coaches and supporters gathered to see athletes playing in a variety of 13 sports, including golf.

The British players joined the other 17 competitors from Denmark, Iceland, and Finland at Sydsjaelland Golf Club .18 and 9 holes were played.

Special Olympics Global Ambassador Padraig Harrington presented each of the GB athletes with a signed putter.

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Athletes Graham Andrews and Mark Britton won prizes for ‘nearest the hole’ and ‘longest drive’ competitions with Andrews also winning a silver medal with a gross score of 128 and a gold medal for the best net score of 113. David Mitchell was fourth with a gross score of 153 and a net score of 126 rounding off. Ricky Moran was also fourth with a gross score of 173, while Christopher Upton came eighth after retiring from his Saturday round, but bravely coming back to play all 9 holes on Sunday. Alexander McLachlan won the delegation’s second silver medal with a gross score of 222.

National Kayaking Competition

14 GB Gymnasts return with 47 medals

Port Talbot welcomed athletes with learning disabilities from Wales and England’s South West and East Midlands regions to compete at the Special Olympics Great Britain National Kayaking Competition, held at Corus Lake (28-29 August 2010). The event hosted by Special Olympics Wales was sponsored by Tata Steel, and local MP Dr. Hywel Francis attended and assisted in handing out medals to the athletes.

14 gymnasts accompanied by four coaches successfully represented Great Britain in the Special Olympics Europe Eurasia Female Artistic Gymnastics Tournament held in Luxembourg (22-25 May). The delegation returned home triumphant with 47 medals in total, which included 18 Gold, 15 silver and 14 bronze.

Despite the inclement weather conditions that saw winds of 4.5 mph, all athletes managed to compete in 200 and 500 metre races, and 500 metre double events. The event also included Come & Try Kayaking sessions for the local community, as part of the plans to further develop the sport in Wales.

Holly Riseborough won one silver medal on beam, Sarah Whitehouse scored 10 for her floor routine and Sarah Greenwood won four gold medals, including all round gold, and one silver. Three athletes selected for the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games also took part in this event: Jemma Bowie-Hallam and Mary Nolan won medals for each event they competed, whilst Lisa Littlemore won three gold and two silver medals.

Special Olympics GB currently has just over 30 athletes doing this sport. The main reason might be the lack of awareness of the opportunities for learning disabled people to participate in kayaking.

The charity is already looking at developing the sport further through partnerships with national governing bodies, like the British Canoe Union.

Athletes and volunteers before the start of the competition

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South London Special League Launch Special Olympics GB launched a partnership with the South London Special League (SLSL) on 15 July.

SLSL is an award winning community-based project that enables people with learning disabilities to participate in sport so was a perfect fit to become part of the Special Olympics programme.

Although based out of Kidbrooke, SLSL involves groups and individuals from across most of South London. Since the partnership launch the most popular sport has been Unified Football.

Sharon Brokenshire of the South London Special League said, “We are delighted with our association with Special Olympics GB whose approach to enabling learning disabled athletes into sport reflects our own.”

GB Footballers make Britain proud at The Helsinki Cup 2010 Nine athletes competed at The Helsinki Cup 2010 (13 -17 July) and returned home with bronze medals. It was the first time that Special Olympics programmes across Europe were invited to compete at this event, which is one of the biggest annual football tournaments in the world that attracts around 15,000 competitors each year.

The Special Olympics GB squad consisted of six athletes and three coaches from Tayside and three athletes and one coach from the North West. The team competed as a 7-a-side squad. After the divisioning day, the GB team was placed in Group A and played against FC Kuusysi, Special Olympics Finland and Special Olympics Sweden. The GB squad played for the third position of its group, against Special Olympics Finland, and it was a great goal from Tayside’s Steven MacFarlane that boosted the team’s morale to finish on a high when beating the Finnish team 3-1.

Athlete Steven MacFarlane said, “It was great, scoring a goal in our last game of the competition.” Head of Delegation Laura Ross added, “The team did Great Britain proud on and off the football field and were true ambassadors on their trip to Finland.”

The next step for SLSL is to support the registration of those athletes and unified partners involved, so they can participate in Special Olympics competitions.

Above: Special Olympics footballers made Britain proud at The Helsinki Cup. Left: South London Special League launches its partnership with Special Olympics GB.

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Unified Football 2010 Highlights 2010 was a great year for football fans across the globe as we enjoyed the 2010 FIFA World Cup - despite England’s defeat! - In Special Olympics GB, we had a lot to celebrate, as we had great developments in our Unified Football® programme.

Unified Football in Great Britain has grown from 200 participants in 2009 to over 400 players in 2010. There are now Unified Football teams in 20 clubs in England’s North West, Greater London, East Midlands, Southern, Eastern, Northern, South East and West Midlands regions. Here are some of the highlights of 2010:

A great Kick-off!

In February, we celebrated the first ever North West region Unified Football Open Tournament, at the Ron Tucker Sports Ground in Bolton to inspire new teams to join the programme. The day was a great success with 58 footballers and 44 unified partners in attendance, many of whom were new to Special Olympics.

Special Olympics Halton team won division 1 and 2, with Everton FiTC winning the junior competition.

Special Olympics GB’s Unified Football Co-ordinator, Jason Cornwell said, “the success of the event is a credit to all the volunteers in the region that have worked on the initiative.”

What is Unified Football?

Unified Football® brings together people with learning disabilities (athletes) and those without (unified partners) on the same team both on and off the pitch.

Olympic medallist Katharine Merry spends some time with our footballers

Olympic medallist and Special Olympics Ambassador, Katharine Merry, attended the send-off event, “Unified Football is a fantastic way to mix-it-up with people both with and without learning disabilities playing sports. I love this idea and hope to see it spread across the country. I am proud to support Special Olympics GB’s Unified Football team.”

GB team returns jubilant from Special Olympics European Youth Unified Football Tournament in Istanbul A strong GB squad of 6 athletes and 5 unified partners represented Great Britain for the first time at the Special Olympics European Youth Unified Football Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey (21 –25 April) and returned home with well-won Silver medals around their necks.

A send-off for the team took place in Runcorn (10 April), where the squad played friendly matches versus other local Unified Football teams from the North West.

Continued overleaf.

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In Istanbul, the team was thrilled to compete following a nail-biting wait following the explosion of the Icelandic volcano and subsequent travel chaos. The team competed in 7-a-side football events against 12 other European countries with a total of 132 athletes and unified partners, plus 24 coaches participating.

According to Head Coach Andy Shard whose son Keegan is a unified partner, “This programme provides another level of challenge for our higher ability athletes and promotes equality and inclusion. I dare you to tell the difference between the athletes and the partners once they take the pitch!”

The 2010 Unified Football team consisted of athletes: John Campbell, Ellis Snape, Mark Bellfield, Gerard Conroy, William Martin, Stephen Law; Unified Partners: David Burns, Samuel North, Keegan Shard, James Shelley, Johnson Nathan. Head of Delegation: Jason Cornwell, Head Coach Andy Shard and Coach Christopher Holleran.

National Grid and the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation unite for Special Olympics GB The Tottenham Hotspur Foundation and Special Olympics GB launched a partnership to support the development of Special Olympics Unified Football® in Great London with an event at Spurs Lodge in Chigwell. Special Olympics GB’s Premier partner National Grid supported the partnership by providing £10K and employee volunteers.

Since the project launched, the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation and National Grid have been working closely with Special Olympics GB to set up six new Unified Football teams across North and South London, with around 100 people participating.

The charity is proud of being close to achieving the ultimate goal of signing up 200 new players by summer 2011. “We are on track to meeting these goals. We have also held a series of volunteer events to get more people from across London involved” said Jason Cornwell, Special Olympics GB’s Unified Football Co-ordinator.

The 2010 Unified Football team wins silver in Istanbul.

Spurs star Peter Crouch attended the event and said: “It’s important that everyone in our community has the opportunity to play football, with or without learning disabilities, and Unified Football gives everyone that chance.”

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Spurs star Peter Crouch spent some time with young Londoners keen to join Special Olympics Unified Football Clubs.

Special Olympics Great Britain 1st Annual Unified Football® Tournament In summer 2010 we held the 1st Annual Unified Football Tournament at Tattenhoe Pavilion, in Milton Keynes (28 August).

Chris Heaton-Harris MP, Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Football Group attended as guest referee.

The 7-a-side Tournament was supported by MK Dons Sport and Education Trust, 66 athletes and unified partners from around the country competed in six teams (MK Dons Unified Football team, teams from Special Olympics GB clubs in St Albans and Halton, as well as squads from Dulwich and Dartford).

Following the divisioning games, the teams were grouped according to their level of ability to ensure a fair competition. The winners for the tournament were: Special Olympics Halton in division A and Special Olympics St Albans in Division B.

Chris Heaton-Harris MP has been an active and qualified football referee for over 30 years, said: “I love and am passionate about Unified Football - it’s not just about inclusion and sport – but being part of a team.”

Athlete Gerard Conroy, from Special Olympics Halton said: “Unified football is brilliant for me because I can play matches with all my mates and not feel left out.”

Unified Football improves attitudes towards those with learning disabilities

Afterwards, MK Dons FC invited the teams to attend the afternoon match between MK Dons FC vs. Swindon Town FC and held a Unified Football demonstration on the pitch during half-time in front of thousands.

Unified Football facts Unified Football was launched in GB in 2008 Unified Football in Great Britain is sponsored by the Vodafone Foundation and Fitflop Very few of the partners had previously met anyone with a learning disability A Unified Football team will represent GB for the first time at the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games.

Special Olympics Halton wins division A at 1st Unified Football Tournament in Milton Keynes

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the 2010 Special Olympics European Summer Games 47 learning disabled athletes represented Great Britain at the Special Olympics European Summer Games in Warsaw, Poland (8-23 September). The GB team competed in: athletics, badminton, powerlifting, tennis, table tennis and ten-pin bowling and returned home with 88 medals after a week-long sporting event.

A total of 1,500 athletes and 600 coaches, 2,000 volunteers, 200 sports referees, 250 medicals and 1,500 family members participated from 57 European countries.

Flame of Hope visits London Britain saw the arrival of the ‘Flame of Hope’ escorted by four Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run runners at Kings Cross St Pancras station (12 September).

The Prime Minister, David Cameron and the Sports and Olympics Minister, Hugh Robertson MP joined Special Olympics GB athletes at No 10 Downing Street to welcome the Special Olympics ‘Flame of Hope’ to Britain (13 September).

David Cameron, said: “I was delighted to welcome the Great Britain athletes and the Torch Runners to Downing Street. I wish the athletes the best of luck in the forthcoming games in Warsaw, the whole country will be cheering them on.”

Prime Minister David Cameron welcomes the Special Olympics Torch Run to London

From London, the ‘Flame of Hope’ made its way to Warsaw for the European Summer Games opening ceremony, after visiting eight European cities. The Torch Run also marked the launch of Special Olympics ‘Wear the Laces’ campaign in Europe (page 32).

Send-Off & Host Town The send off of the team was marked by a reception hosted by the Polish Ambassador at the Polish Embassy in London (14 September).

The team flew out to Warsaw (15 September) from London Heathrow and travelled to the Host Town, Bialystok, where Polish families welcomed the athletes and helped them to acclimatise and experience Polish culture for three days, prior the games.

The Opening Ceremony 22,000 people gathered at the Legia Stadium in Warsaw for the games’ opening ceremony (18 September), which saw Mick Hucknall of Simply Red performing and leading the Great Britain team into the stadium during the traditional parade of athletes by country.

Hucknall stopped and hugged or shook hands with each of the 46 GB athletes representing their country. “I am just thrilled to be here,” he said. The games were officially declared open after the Special Olympics cauldron was lit by the ‘Flame of Hope’.

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Good Sportsmanship has no Borders Table tennis team head coach Jim Houghton of Kirriemuir, Angus, was amazed when the head coach and head of delegation of Slovakia stopped the match between his athlete and Ian Bradford of Montrose, Tayside. He insisted that the referee had mistakenly given his athlete the point in the very heated match between the two players. Ian then won the bronze medal for Great Britain in men’s singles.

Coach Jim Houghton said, “I was immensely impressed by this gesture of good-sportsmanship and fair-play. This is just another example of why Special Olympics is so special.”

7 days of Competitions, 88 Medals, 1 Team Athlete Lawrence Black shakes hands with Mick Hucknall

GB Team honoured by British Ambassador to Poland The British Ambassador to Poland, Ric Todd hosted a reception for the 46 athletes and their coaches at his Residence in Warsaw to mark their participation in the 2010 European Summer Games.

The Special Olympics European Summer Games 2011 was declared an international celebration of sport and goodwill promoting respect, acceptance and inclusion for people with learning disabilities through sports.

The GB team returned proudly with a total of 88 medals: 36 Gold, 29 Silver, 23 Bronze after seven days of sporting achievements.

“I was delighted to host so many wonderful athletes at my Residence. I’ve never met any gold Olympic medallists before. So it was a great honour to meet such great Special Olympics athletes for the first time today”, said the Ambassador.

Athletes Alastair Daniels and Peter Millar

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Lisa Bradley in action on the tables

Athlete Lawrence wins silver medal for his shot put

 Scott Bruce in the Squat

Zara Jurenko wins the game against German athlete

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 Athlete David Adie

For more details of the team experiences in Warsaw, please visit our blog http://specialolympicsgb.wordpress.com/

The GB Team returns jubilant

The Games at a Glance 47 athletes 6 Sports 88 medals

Laura Smith, Head of the British delegation commented, “We are delighted with the results, but medals are not the most important thing. It is participation itself that makes the Special Olympics really special. Many of our athletes have had to train for a few years to be ready to come to Warsaw.

All of them are winners.”

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Our Partners Special Olympics is very proud to have the ongoing support of a number of high profile corporate, private and community partners without whom the challenge to continue our programme of growth and development would be far greater year on year.

All our partnerships look at ways of strengthening and offering real value in return for the financial support received. One of the best ways to achieve this has been by connecting the workforce of our corporate partners with our local and regional programmes around the country.

National Grid continues to power Special Olympics GB In September 2010, National Grid extended its support as the charity’s Premier partner for a further three years, until the end of 2013. The partnership began in 2007, as part of National Grid’s community and employee programme with the aim of making a positive impact in the communities where National Grid operates while developing employee skills, raising diversity awareness and providing team building opportunities.

Julian Buttery, Head of UK Community Relations at National Grid said, “We are delighted to be extending our relationship with Special Olympics GB. Our employees have really embraced the partnership. As well as supporting the athletes they are developing their own skills and having a really positive impact on the local communities where we work.”

Over the past three years, National Grid has not only provided valuable financial support to Special Olympics GB, but has also made a major impact by enabling that over 600 National Grid employees volunteer their time - over 8,000 hours since 2007 – to support Special Olympics work around the country.

In 2010 National Grid employees volunteered to organise and run several sports competitions, including the Regional Athletics held in Thames Valley Athletics Centre in Pococks Lane, Eton (25 July).

National Grid Admin Assistant Mahendra Vadera, who works in Slough, has been volunteering for two years for Special Olympics GB. He said: “It’s very rewarding to be involved in something like this and to see the positive effect it has on everyone who takes part.”

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Awards Our partnership with National Grid has provided evidence of having positive community impact, this was recognised publicly when National Grid won the Beyond Sport 2010 ‘Corporation of the Year’ category for its outstanding work with Special Olympics GB. This global award was announced at the Beyond Sport summit held in Chicago, USA (30 September). It was remarkable that National Grid was selected from over 400 programs from more than 115 countries that applied for this accolade.

Additionally, the company recognised internally the effort of all their UK employees by giving a special Chairman’s Awards 2010 to all the National Grid volunteers involved with Special Olympics GB.

National Grid volunteerS go the extra mile During spring and summer 2010, employees from National Grid supported the ‘Beyond the Label’ project (page 36) and participated in various sponsored fundraising events (page 32).

Towards the end of 2010, a dedicated team of corporate volunteers organised the 1st Special Olympics GB’s Roadshows in National Grid’s offices in Wolverhampton, Northampton, Warwick, Wokingham, Hinckley, London and Solihull (24 November - 10 December).

In London, the event finished with the presentation of a plaque to National Grid’s CEO Steve Holliday by Karen Wallin, Special Olympics GB’s CEO, in recognition of the support offered by National Grid to the charity since 2007.

In 2011 National Grid is to set up a sports development fund for Special Olympics clubs to help them develop their sports locally and provide more sporting opportunities for people with learning disabilities.

The roadshows aimed to raise further awareness of the partnership between the charity and National Grid employees to enthuse them to get involved with and support Special Olympics GB clubs.

The occasion was also perfect to raise funds through the sale of raffle tickets, homemade cakes and jams, Christmas cards and Special Olympics (shoe) laces as part of the charity’s Wear the Laces campaign (page 32). At the end of the roadshow, over £3,000 was raised to benefit directly local Special Olympics clubs.

In 2010 National Grid and Special Olympics GB agreed the design of a composite logo to raise further awareness of the partnership.

Partnership at a Glance More than 600 National Grid volunteers Over 11,000 hours in own and company time given to Special Olympics Over £81,000 raised through sponsored events and fundraising activities Three athletes given work experience at National Grid offices

Presentation of a plaque to National Grid’s CEO Steve Holliday

National Grid employees were instrumental in supporting the development of two new Special Olympics clubs in 2010

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Former England legend John Barnes unveils the youngsters as the England team’s official flag bearers for the England v Algeria match at the FIFA World Cup 2010.

Coke continues to bring awareness and fun Coca-Cola Great Britain has supported us for over 30 years and in 2010 continued its commitment to help promote Special Olympics GB work.

GB athletes fly flag for England at 2010 World Cup Thanks to Coca-Cola, three athletes and three unified partners trod in their football heroes’ footsteps in South Africa at the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, when they led out the England team as flag bearers prior to the first round match versus Algeria in Cape Town (18 June).

Liz Lowe, Citizenship Manager at Coca-Cola Great Britain said; “We’re thrilled to be able to celebrate our longstanding relationship

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Athletes fly the flag for England prior to the first round match versus Algeria

with Special Olympics by sharing the magic of the FIFA World Cup™ and giving the youngsters the once-in-a-lifetime chance to be flag bearers.”

The lucky youngsters who experienced five days (15-19 June) of the World Cup and South African hospitality were learning disabled athletes: Daniel Lenehan, George Holt and Kyle Booth and unified partners: Joshua Appleton, Keven Shard and Alec Barry.

The Unity Cup During the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ Coca-Cola and Special Olympics held the first Unity Cup (3 July), a 20-minute football match where Special Olympic athletes played with international football stars to raise awareness of the Special Olympics Unified Sports ® programme (page 11). The goal of the event was to promote inclusion and acceptance of people with learning disabilities.

The Unity Cup was held at Cape Town Stadium, prior to the 2010 World Cup quarter final match. Special Olympics GB’s President Lawrie McMenemy MBE attended the event, as well as football legends, celebrities and international figures, including South Africa’s President Jacob Suma, FIFA’s President Sepp Blatter, as well as British football legends Kevin Keegan, Alan Shearer and Chris Kamara.

Special Olympics Chairman & CEO Tim Shriver said, “Thanks to our global partner, Coca-Cola, we can turn the people’s attention to football not only as a sport, but as a powerful agent of change.”

Coca-Cola also supports our fundraising through its Coke Zone, a website where people can donate Coke points online to Special Olympics GB. Find out more and donate points from bottles of Coke, Diet Coke and Coke Zero online at www.cokezone.co.uk

Unity Cup 2010

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Domino’s Pizza raises dough for our athletes!

Domino’s Pizza has continued to provide Special Olympics GB with remarkable support through awareness and fundraising efforts performed by its franchisees and head office staff.

In 2010 more than 40 Special Olympics GB athletes and volunteers visited seven Domino’s stores around the country, as part of Domino’s support to raise awareness of the charity in local communities.

During the visits to stores in Bolton, Loughton, Bishops Stortford, Glasgow Central, Alvaston, Liverpool Rice Lane, Uckfield and Luton, our athletes had fun learning how to make pizzas, while team members from the stores learnt more about people with learning disabilities. Our partnership with Domino’s includes raising local funds to support local athletes.

Karen Edwards, from the Special Olympics club in Bolton received a £300 donation in February 2010 and said: “we are delighted that Domino’s is supporting us. The money will ensure that many children and young people who have additional needs will have the opportunity to learn new skills, participate in a range of sporting activities, compete at the highest level and achieve great things.”

Athletes Sylvia Moffat and John Mahomet learn to make pizza.

Domino’s also continued to support our sport events, from March to July 2010, Domino’s Pizza in Lincoln tied up with Lincoln City Football Club and Special Olympics Lincolnshire to sponsor four Football Come & Try Events. Domino’s provided pizza to guests on the day and handed out vouchers to all the athletes that took part.

Luton store raised thousands for Special Olympics GB.

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In September 2010, Special Olympics GB was delighted to join Domino’s to celebrate their 25th Anniversary in the UK. Our CEO, Karen Wallin attended a special event at the Luton store, which raised £ 5,000 for the charity by selling raffle tickets to win pizza for a year.

Domino’s, our corporate partner since 2007, also supported a selection of British athletes competing at the Special Olympics European Summer Games in Warsaw, Poland (page 14) and our Wear the Laces Campaign (page 32). Domino’s also chose Special Olympics Great Britain as its charity of choice for the Mascot Grand National 2010 event (3 October). Our Charity received over £1,300 from the Mascot Grand National, courtesy of mascot, Scotty the Stag from Windsor and Eton FC.

Innovative fundraising initiative helps raise thousands Towards the end of the year, we celebrated again with Domino’s as a new fundraising channel for the charity was launched on Domino’s website. Special Olympics GB is the main beneficiary of Pennies, the electronic charity box, which enables Domino’s customers to donate between 1p and 99p when they order a pizza online and pay by card.

Since its launch at the beginning of November until March 2011, Special Olympics GB has received over £42,000 in donations through Pennies. This funding will enable the launch of three key projects in 2011, including supporting 600 volunteers through a recognised Sports Leaders course, establishing a minimum of 15 new clubs around the country and the establishment of a new annual competition calendar.

Partnership At a Glance

Over 40 athletes visited Dominos’ stores in 2010 £6k raised through local Domino’s stores in 2010 Over £42k donation received from Domino’s customers through Pennies (december 2010 to march 2011).

Domino’s Pizza helps to raise funds for Special Olympics GB athletes through the Pennies Foundation

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Volunteer organisations join forces Special Olympics GB and the Lions Clubs International – MD105 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (2 May) in Leeds, to join forces and increase the inclusion and participation of people with learning disabilities within sport in the country.

Council Chairman Andy Pemberton signed the agreement on behalf of the Lions Clubs International of GB, whilst our President Lawrie McMenemy MBE signed it on behalf of our charity.

Lion and also Special Olympics GB’s Board member Phil Nathan said, “Special Olympics GB and Lions have a tremendous relationship, which is getting better and stronger. This formal agreement will create more opportunities for Lions members to become qualified coaches and trained volunteers.”

Special Olympics GB’s President Lawrie McMenemy MBE signs Memorandum of Understanding accompanied by Lion Phil Nathan (left) and athlete Joseph Hadfield (middle).

As part of the commitment between the two organisations, athletes and volunteers from Special Olympics Lothian club joined the Lions Clubs International Awareness event at the Festival Square in Edinburgh (2 September) to help to raise awareness of both non-for-profit organisations among the Scottish communities.

The event was a great opportunity to showcase the power of Special Olympics. Athletes Scott Bruce and Christina McSherry, who competed at the 2010 Special Olympics European Summer Games (page 14), showed their gold medals and shared their experiences with the Lions.

The Lions Club International endeavours to help Special Olympics GB at local level when offering volunteers to support the running of sport competitions, as well as raising funds for local Special Olympics clubs.

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Athlete Richard Cook with Lion Hugh Kershaw

ABB brings more volunteers ABB has contributed financially to Special Olympics GB since 2000 and in 2010 the partnership was renewed for further three years.

With renewed impetus, ABB and Special Olympics GB launched a corporate volunteer programme in April 2010 to encourage ABB employees to sign up and volunteer at Special Olympics clubs around the country.

The ABB corporate volunteer programme has been based on the very successful National Grid volunteering programme with Special Olympics GB. The programme kicked-off with introductory sessions about the charity, where athletes and volunteers encouraged ABB employees to take part and make a difference.

As a result, many ABB employees have been supporting the charity in different sport competitions, including the Indoors Athletics event held at Cannock (5 December) where nearly 20 ABB employees volunteered and contributed to the smooth run of the competition.

ABB reactivates its partnership with Special Olympics

The plan for 2011 is to roll out the employee volunteer programme in different ABB locations around the country. This will potentially contribute to our goal of increasing our volunteer network from 2,800 to 6,000 by 2013.

Fitflop Helps develop inclusive initiatives Fitflop has been proud corporate partner of Special Olympics Great Britain since 2008. In 2010 Fitflop contributed greatly to boost the awareness of the charity’s Unified Football programme (page 11), thanks to its financial support as well as Fitflop employees expertise in the areas of design, public relations and marketing.

Scott Thomson, Fitflop’s Managing Director, said: “we think of our brand as energetic, democratic and accessible to all.

What struck us about Special Olympics GB was the importance of inclusion, the focus on sport and mobility and the strong sense of community. Having been personally involved in Unified Football, it is fantastic to witness the sense of achievement and pride that athletes take from simply competing.

Fitflop boosts awareness of Unified Football

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Our Athletes What is the Special Olympics Athlete Leadership Programme?

It is an initiative that allows our athletes to explore opportunities for participation in other roles within Special Olympics. Through ALPs, athletes can serve on Boards of Directors or local committees.

Athletes excel as spokespersons, coaches and officials.

Lee’s on TV! Special Olympics athlete Lee Penfold has been part of the Special Olympics GB’s Athlete Leadership Programme (ALPs) for more than three years. His training in public speaking and media liaison, together with this sport training at Special Olympics East Midlands, has boosted Lee’s confidence and personal skills enormously. In 2010, Lee’s dream of working on television came true.

ITV central spotted him on the job as Ambassador of the 2009 Special Olympics GB’s National Games in Leicester and in May 2010, asked him if he wanted to come in for a work experience.

For about five weeks in Summer 2010, Lee helped to plan the news diary, assisted the news editor in sorting iTV Central sports and new stories, and also looked through the archive tapes for material regarding Special Olympics from 1999 to 2010.

Footballer and Unified partner join the European Youth Summit in Warsaw Special Olympics football athlete George Holt and Unified Partner Keven Shard attended the 2010 European Youth Summit in Warsaw, Poland (17-23 September), which ran alongside the Special Olympics European Summer Games (page 14).

This event was an opportunity for the organisation and its partners to listen to what young people have to say about their experiences in Special Olympics. The delegates participated in Photography & Journalism workshops that have helped them to improve their communications skills and confidence.

George and Keven, were also two of the six flag youngsters that flew the flag for England at in South Africa (page 20)

Lee enjoying his work experience at ITV

Thanks to the ALPS Programme Lee has previously interviewed members of Parliament and delivered speeches in front of over 20,000 people. Lee’s involvement with the Special Olympics first began in September of 1998 and in 2011 he will be representing Great Britain at the Special Olympics World Games in Athens where he will be playing basketball.

“I’m just going to keep going, playing the best I can. And you never know, they (iTV) might need me again soon for a Special Olympics feature,” said Lee

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Athlete George Holt takes a journalism workshop at the European Youth Summit 2010

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Athlete and National Grid Mentor attend ALPS Seminar in Brussels Special Olympics GB athlete Rachel Jarvis and her mentor and National Grid employee Diane Whilding attended the Special Olympics Europe Eurasia Athlete Leadership Seminar in Brussels, Belgium (8 -10 January 2010), where they joined athletes and mentors from France, Poland, Greece and Belgium.

Rachel is 32 years old and lives in Leicester, she has been part of Special Olympics East Midlands for over eight years, where she plays basketball.

Rachel Jarvis learns about public presentation in Brussels

Commenting about her experience at the seminar RACHEL said: “I learnt how to be part of a team; I practiced talking in front of an audience and how to communicate with other people. I liked everything but my favourite thing was visiting the European Parliament. There was so much to see: people were really friendly and I thought translators were good at explaining everything.”

Rachel has won many medals at national and international competitions. Aside from her involvement as an athlete, she was an Athlete Ambassador for the 2009 Special Olympics GB’s National Summer Games held in Leicester and she is one of the three Special Olympics athletes taking part in the National Grid’s Mentoring Scheme, which sees the energy company employees actively supporting the personal development of our athletes.

Diane lives in Warwick and works as Customer Strategy Manager at National Grid and has been mentoring our athletes for over two years with a team of four National Grid employees.

Diane said, “Attending the conference with Rachel gave me a great opportunity to support Rachel further. It was a wonderful opportunity to strengthen our friendship on a 1-1 level.”

National Grid mentor, Diane, helps Rachel rehearse her presentation

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The seminar enabled athletes to learn how to express their ideas and conduct athlete committee meetings, as well as gaining skills to deal with the media and give public presentations.

Global Athlete Congress in Morocco Special Olympics athlete, gymnastic coach and new board member, Greg Silvester together with his mentor and National Grid employee Shafqat Ali attended the Global Athlete Congress in Morocco (5-10 June). The event was held alongside the 2010 Special Olympics Global Congress where Special Olympics leaders from more than 139 countries and 174 Special Olympics Programmes around the world gathered to chart the course for the future of the Special Olympics movement.

The Global Athlete Congress saw over 70 athletes from all around the globe exchanging experiences about Special Olympics GB present and future. Greg presented his views in more than once occasion and in front of all the delegates.

Greg views about the future of the movement included: the need to improve quality of competition and training of coaches and involving our athletes more in fundraising activities.

Mentoring Scheme supports athletes into work In 2010, National Grid and its employees continued demonstrating their commitment to support people with a learning disability through their work with the ‘Special Olympics GB Mentoring Scheme.’ The initiative has already achieved its main goal of offering National Grid work experience opportunities for our athletes.

In 2010 athletes Greg Silvester and Rachel Jarvis started administrative work experiences in National Grid offices in Warwick and Hinckley respectively.

Later in the year, Greg was offered a part-time position with National Grid’s contractor Morgan Sindell in Wolverhampton and our athlete Stewart Pinfold also gained employment with National Grid’s contractor Remploy in Birmingham.

Greg presents his views at Special Olympics Global Congress

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Special Olympics athlete Omar Haddad meets Olympic diver Tom Daley

Athletes attend BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards 2010 Special Olympics European Summer Games (page 14) athletes Kevin Pringle from England and Matthew Waite from Wales, as well as 2011 World Summer Games athlete Omar Haddad from Widnes, were invited to attend the 2010 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards ceremony held on 19 December at the LG Arena in Birmingham. They were accompanied by volunteer coaches Kelly Moore and Keith Champion.

Athlete Omar said: “I was thrilled to see and meet so many sports personalities in just few hours. Thank you very much for a brilliant evening.�

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Our Goal There are 8,000 people with learning disability taking part in the Special Olympics GB programme, but we aim to grow the programme to 20,000 athletes by 2013.

Our athletes to be 2012 Olympic Games Volunteers Special Olympics GB is one of 49 disability partner organisations selected to help promote the recruitment of volunteers for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics Games. These volunteers will be called Games Makers.

In September 2010, we sent a communication out to all our clubs, to let our athletes know of this great opportunity. Special Olympics GB was not recruiting Games Makers directly, instead we helped the athletes interested to complete and send their applications before the campaign to recruit 70,000 volunteers went nationwide.

42 applications were submitted and we are now waiting to hear how many of our athletes will become Games Makers.

Some of our athletes might volunteer for the 2012 Olympics Games

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Awareness & Fundraising Campaigns

The shoe laces are on sale for £2 at Special Olympics GB online shop: www.specialolympicsgb.org.uk/shop-online/

Despite benefiting 8,000 people with learning disabilities there are an estimated 1.2 million people in the UK with learning disabilities.

To reach out to more people the charity needs to raise further awareness in 2010 we continued with our efforts to spread out the word about what we do through online campaigns and sponsored fundraising events.

Wear the Laces Special Olympics GB launched the Wear the Laces campaign on to honour of the United Nation’s International Day of Disabled People (3 December). The campaign asks people to buy and wear Special Olympics (shoe) laces to show their support for the charity.

The campaign was launched in Europe during the Special Olympics Torch Run 2010 (page 14) and it has been embraced by thousands of people worldwide. In GB we saw the Prime Minister David Cameron wearing it on his wrist; volunteers, athletes and the charity’s supporters also wear it as bows in their hair, as headbands and tied onto their clothes.

Prime Minister David Cameron wears the laces

Special Olympics GB has already sold 3,000 laces and hopes to continue selling more laces in 2011 with the support of our volunteers and supporters.

Domino’s has laces available to purchase in 102 stores around the country.

Tina Johnson, franchisee for the store in Milton Keynes, said; “We are fully supportive of Special Olympics GB and like to do what we can to help this good cause. We have a box of laces on the front counter available for customers to tie-in to this if they wish.”

Further support to promote the campaign has also been received from our partners: Coca Cola Enterprises, Coca- Cola Great Britain, Lions International and our Premier partner National Grid.

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Domino’s stores around GB support Wear the Laces

Encouragement In November 2010 Special Olympics GB launched an online campaign in partnership with parenting website Netmums.com to illustrate how encouragement helps people with learning disabilities transform their lives through sport.

The campaign generously funded by a grant from the EU consists of an interactive online film titled ‘Encouragement’, which sees Special Olympics athlete Omar Haddad preparing for and performing a gymnastics routine. To make Omar perform online users are prompted to move an interactive volume slider to control the level of encouragement he receives from the crowd, if encouragement is built up, Omar is empowered to perform his routine.

Netmums.com hosted the film and a web chat, where our CEO, Karen Wallin and Omar’s mother, Liz Haddad, replied to questions about Special Olympics and learning disability issues.

Running throughout November the partnership reached the 840,000 Netmums.com members, who learned about Special Olympics GB work. The film’s website www.encourageomar.co.uk/ had over 20,000 visits by December 2010.

The short film filmed at Wembley Arena was created by JWT and directed by Johnny Green. It stars Omar Haddad, a Special Olympics GB gymnast from Widnes, who will be representing Great Britain at the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens.

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Record-Breaking Rickshaw Ride

To watch the video or buy the song, please go to www.everyboyengland.co.uk/

Adventurer and Special Olympics GB’s supporter, Tim Moss, pedalled over 1,000 miles in a rickshaw to raise awareness for the charity.

Tim set-off from the Olympic Statue on Aviemore Village Green on 26 April and arrived to London’s Tower Bridge on 2 June, when a team of riders from rickshaw company, Bug Bugs – who donated the three-wheeled bicycle – formed a ‘guard of honour’, as Tim powered through the finishing line outside City Hall to break the world record for miles travelled. Employees from the charity’s Premier partner National Grid also came down to support Tim. Tim travelled 1,018 miles down the country, breaking the previous rickshaw record of 955 miles set in 2009. tim said, “I don’t think enough people are aware of the year-round sports opportunities the charity offers for anyone with a learning disability.”

On his way down the country Tim meets Special Olympics athletes

World Cup themed Song and Video To maximise the impact of the football fever felt around the country in summer 2010 a group of charity supporters produced and distributed on the Internet a song and a video, called ‘Every boy that ever kicked a Ball for England’.

The video featured England players Peter Crouch, Gareth Barry, Joe Hart, James Milner and Jermaine Defoe, along with Special Olympics GB athletes and members of the Police and Fire service.

Former England captain Alan Shearer, Olympic Gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes and many more sports celebrities also feature in the video. The video follows a young boy whose dream of playing for England becomes a shared dream.

The proceeds from downloads of the song, ‘Everyboy England’ including iTunes and other official download sites benefited Special Olympics GB. The charity’s Premier partner National Grid and Special Olympics Global Ambassador Tottenham Hotspur helped fund and support the project.

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With a banner strung around his neck, World Cup video/song producer and charity activist Glenn MacDonald ambushed top BBC radio presenters. In response to this PR stunt, various BBC’s personalities including Chris Evans took away copies of the song

corporate employees raise thousands!

In 2010 the charity received thousands of pounds from sponsored fundraising events, this would not have been possible without the commitment and enthusiasm shown by each one of the participants. A big thank you to all of them!

14 employees from the charity’s Premier partner National Grid and five from our pro bono advertising agency JWT ran the British 10K London Run (11 July) to raise awareness and funds for Special Olympics GB. Together the runners raised over £6,000 for the charity.

Runner, Phil Clarke, who is National Grid’s Head of London Operations, said: “I’ve been a volunteer for Special Olympics for awhile now. And I just see the difference it makes to the athletes. I thoroughly enjoy it, I get a great deal out of it.”

A group of 12 strong National Grid employees raced at the 14th London Triathlon (7-8 August) together with two employees from Barclays raising over £12,000 for the charity.

Supporters participate in sponsored fundraising events like the London 10K Run

National Grid’s Training Team Leader, Ian Allison, completed the Triathlon in 01:47:28, and said: “One of the most important things for me in life is to be happy and participating in sports helps me achieve this. If I can do something to make this more possible for disadvantaged or individuals who may not be able to participate in sporting events without Special Olympics then I am very willing and proud to help.”

Among the triathletes were National Grid’s Executive Directors, Mike Westcott and George Mayhew. Both did a 1500-metre swim, 40 Km bike ride and 10Km run to raised funds for Special Olympics GB. National Grid employees help to raise awareness of Special Olympics GB

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Volunteer of the Year Awards

Athletes Star in Fashion Show

Special Olympics Great Britain launched its own Volunteer of the Year Awards in 2008 to acknowledge the ongoing contribution and commitment of their dedicated volunteer network.

Athletes from Special Olympics Surrey modelled bespoke fashion garments specially designed for them at the Kingston College’s annual end of year catwalk Fashion Show (16 June), as part of the unique collaborative project ‘Beyond the Label’, which aims to bring together the worlds fashion and learning disability.

The winners for 2010 Volunteer of the Year are: Corporate Volunteer Award: Tina Dean of Wolverhampton, National Grid Young Volunteer Award: Victoria Jones, Llangwm, Haverfordwest Outstanding Contribution Award: Gordon McCormack, Glasgow Athlete Volunteer Award: Stuart Pinfold, Birmingham

After weeks of learning how to walk a runway, our athletes hit the catwalk with confidence and modelled the outfits in front of friends, family and members of the fashion industry, including makeup artist, stylist and Special Olympics GB Ambassador Armand Beasley.

Caroline Alexander, Programme Leader on the BTEC ND Fashion & Clothing, commented on the project: “Students have created fashions that are far more inclusive. They also had fun, learnt a lot and met some wonderful people that they would not have had the chance to, outside of this project.”

Volunteer Sports Coach Award: Graham Poole, Shropshire A special award ceremony was held in London on 21 March 2011 in front of media, corporate sponsors, Special Olympics GB Board Members, friends and families.

Our ambassador Armand Beasley, added: “To cater for athletes with a learning disability which can affect their physicality and functionality is a difficult brief, so I was delighted to see the items of clothing the students had designed – in particular the buckles put on a shirt. I was also really pleased the athletes had a say in the students’ designs.”

National Grid volunteers supported the project by providing the funds to purchase the necessary fabric and trimmings, and producing a behind the scenes DVD for the Beyond the Label project.

The overall project involved the participation of 47 BTEC National Diploma in Fashion and Clothing students and 18 Special Olympics GB athletes.

Left to right Gordon McCormack, Trish Handsley on behalf of Tina Dean, Victoria Jones, Pam Poole on behalf of her husband Graham Poole and Stuart Pinfold

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Armand with Special Olympics Surrey Athletes, National Grid volunteers and Fashion students after the show (Photo: Photini Pavlidis).

Greg Friend is one of the 18 Special Olympics athlete taking part in the project (Photo: Photini Pavlidis).

Athlete Hilary Thomas hit the catwalk with confidence and modelled her outfit (Photo: Photini Pavlidis).

Athlete Georgina Harris (Photo: Photini Pavlidis).

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Farewell to Ron Phillips, mbe Our longstanding volunteer and swimming coach Ronald (Ron) Frederick Phillips MBE lost his fight to illness on 4 December 2010 aged 85.

Ron was a founder member of the Reading Cygnets Swimming Club in the early 80’s and served as the club’s chairman for over 20 years. It was under his helm that the club gained its status as an affiliate to Special Olympics GB. Ron was a painter and decorator by trade, but he also was English Sports Association Deputy Head Coach, English Sports Association Board Member, swimming coach and founder of the Down’s Syndrome International Swimming Organisation (DSISO).

In the 1990’s Ron received an MBE honours by HM The Queen for his outstanding contribution to learning disability swimming.

In 2007, Ron retired as chairman of Reading Cygnets Club and dedicated the remainder of his life to the DSISO. Ron Phillips with his wife and son Christopher

Special Olympics GB, Director of Sports & Services, Andy Heffer said: “Learning disability sports owes Ron a great debt. He was one of the trailblazers in taking swimming for people with a learning disability from the therapy pool to the competition arena.”

Gordon Dart, Ron’s grandson and current chairman of Reading Cygnets Club, added: “Ron’s vision and hard work will continue.

Who knows one day we may see the first Down Syndrome Paralympics Champion, through the many volunteers he has empowered to continue his work this may one day become reality!

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In 2010 we also bid a fond farewell to Special Olympics GB Cheshire East Coach Michael Horen and the Secretary to the Board of Directors of Special Olympics International Drake Turrentine.

Retirement 2010 also saw some of our long standing volunteers retiring from their roles within Special Olympics GB, including Ruth Nichols who served as Chairman for Special Olympics St Albans and Valerie Hanover, who stepped down from her role as Chair of Special Olympics West Midlands after 25 years, but still continues to be involved with running her local club, Special Olympics North Shropshire.

A bright future!

By Karen Wallin The future is really looking bright for Special Olympics GB and everybody who is part of the organisation has something to look forward to. Firstly in 2011, we will be sending a strong team of 215 delegates, including 157 learning disabled athletes, to represent Great Britain at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens KAREN WALLIN, CEO OF (25 June- 4 July); in 2012 we will be SPECIAL OLYMPICS GB celebrating the Olympic Games in London, where we expect to proudly support our athletes volunteering in this once-in a-life time event!

And in 2013, we look forward to sending a squad of alpine skiers to South Korea to compete at the next Special Olympics World Winter Games. The above are just three of the main highlights to come in regards to major sporting events, but let’s not forget that Special Olympics GB is more about what is happening today, everyday, in your neighbourhood!

Our goal is to significantly develop our GB programme and aim to grow from 8,000 athletes to 20,000 and from 2,600 volunteers to 6,000 by 2013. During 2011, we plan to establish 15 new clubs which includes a focus on developing local Special Olympics programmes in each of the five Olympic boroughs in London as part of the 2012 Olympic Games Legacy. We are also focusing on establishing a fuller and more regular competition calendar Competition enables athletes to meet other people and interact with them. Competition also gives athletes an opportunity to have measurable achievement through participation.

We will continue to recruit and train more volunteers and sports coaches who are key to delivering the sport training and competitions opportunities for our athletes in England, Scotland and Wales. As well as looking to work more closely with National Governing Bodies and in turn their clubs, to enable them to become more inclusive in their everyday sports provision.

Based on the successful and now well established employee volunteer programme with National Grid, which continues to go from strength to strength, we plan to further develop the whole area of employee volunteering with other corporate partners. Having laid the foundations with ABB in 2010, based

on the National Grid model, we will now focus on growing the volunteer programme at their site in Stone and looking to their next target site to roll out the programme.

Furthermore, in 2011 we will also be introducing our corporate volunteer programme within Coca Cola Enterprises, which has become the latest company to commit their support to Special Olympics GB. One thing is certain for the future - all Special Olympics GB volunteers, coaches, board and staff will continue striving to contribute in changing the lives of many more people with learning disabilities in Great Britain in the years to come.

With very best wishes Karen

Ways to support Us Special Olympics GB relies on corporate and individual giving and currently does not receive any kind of government funding. There are various ways you can support our work: You can make a one-off donation or set up a monthly direct debit from our website. You can also raise funds and get fit and have fun when taking part at various fundraising sponsored events held through the year.

You can also help us to spread out the word about our work in transforming the lives of people with learning disabilities through sports. Join our social networking pages on Facebook or twitter

www.facebook.com/SpecialOlympicsGB

http://twitter.com/SOGreatBritain.

You can also get involved as volunteer or coach!

To find out more details of how you can get involved and support us today, please visit www.specialolympicsgb.org.uk

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Special Olympics Great Britain: Transforming Lives through Sport

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