Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.

Year in Review 2014

ContentsIntroducing Special Olympics Great Britain 4-5

Meaningful Competition 6

Our Competition Pathway 7-11

The 2014 Special Olympics European Summer Games, Antwerp 12-14

Reaching Our Potential 15-17

Expanding Volunteering & Community Engagement 18-20

A Growing Recognition 21

Ambassadors 22-25

Taking the Plunge to raise funds – Polar Plunge comes to GB 26-27

Looking ahead to a Unified Generation 28-29

Welcome to our Year in Review 2014 It has been another great year for Special Olympics Great Britain and our dedicated athletes, partners and volunteers!

We have achieved so much and are well positioned to achieve even more in 2015!

Highlights of 2014

In 2014, we continued to be inspired by the

perseverance and joyfulness of our 8,000

athletes who continue their training every

week in one of our 150 Special Olympics clubs

around England, Scotland and Wales run by our

dedicated army of 4,000 volunteers who are the

essential “cogs” in the wheel and who give their

time and skills to keep our charity going from

strength to strength.

In 2014, we welcomed two new annual Charity

Partnerships established with Paddy Power and

UKActive. Both organisations are busy helping

to raise essential funds through employee

fundraising and through awareness to their

customers and clients.

I am also extremely grateful to our long-term

Partners, National Grid, Coca-Cola GB, Coca-Cola

Enterprises and ABB for their continued

generous support. I was also delighted that

we received a first time funding grant from

Sport England. The award will help us provide

specific support to National Governing Bodies

and create new local ‘Delivery Networks’ (clubs)

bringing a range of organisations together to

work in partnership to offer new opportunities

for people with a intellectual disability to

regularly participate in sport. In 2014 a strong

GB Team made us proud at the European

Summer Games held in Antwerp.

Looking forward

As we look back to our highlights and the

achievements of our athletes in 2014, we are

inspired to start looking ahead to another busy

year during 2015.

In the following months we will see a GB

Team of over 100 athletes competing at the

Special Olympics World Summer Games in Los

Angeles, more than 12 National Single Sports

Competitions and the launch of our newly

developed Youth Engagement Strategy. This

includes investment in community engagement

projects including Young Athletes® and the

Families programme, plus a Siblings Conference,

in addition to an exciting new Inclusive Schools

project in partnership with Youth Sports Trust.

None of what we have achieved over the past

year and what we strive to do next year would

be possible without the determination and

commitment of our athletes and their families,

partners, sponsors and volunteers.

Murton Mann.

Chairman.

Premier Partner

Official Partners

Official Supporters Charity of the Year

Board of Directors - Chairman: Murton Mann, Vice-Chairman: Len Dunne, Kathryn McColl, Miles MacKinnon, Phil Nathan MBE, Andy Reed OBE, Tom Gorman, Laura Smith, Greg Silvester and Keith Wilcox. General Counsel: Tanya Layng, Honorary Treasurer: Ian Muir, Medical Advisor: Stan Shepherd, and Company Secretary: Karen Wallin.

Honorary Board - President: Lawrie McMemeny MBE, Vice President: Paul Anderson OBE, Vice President, Pat England MBBS, Georgina Hulme and Rosie Stancer.

Supporters - Chris Knott Insurance, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Evans Cycles, Greater London Authority, Henry Smith Charity, ITV, Marsh UK Ltd, Mattel, Simpson Wreford & Partners, Sport England, The Coles-Medlock Foundation, The Geoff & Fiona Squire Foundation, The Pennies Foundation, The Sylvia Adams Charitable Trust.

Introducing Special Olympics Great Britain

We are part of the Special Olympics global movement founded in America by the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver in the early 60s.

It all began, when Eunice - who had a sister with intellectual disabilities - realised the prejudices, isolation and challenges that many children and adults with intellectual disabilities faced. They didn’t even have a place to play any sports.

Eunice’s vision and drive for social justice eventually grew into the Special Olympics Movement which is now over 170 countries around the globe.

In Great Britain, our history began in 1976 after swimming coach Chris Maloney felt inspired to send a letter to Rose Kennedy (mother of John F. Kennedy and Eunice Kennedy Shriver) after reading her book entitled ‘Times to Remember’.

Rose passed the letter to Eunice who then enlisted Chris Maloney to develop the Special Olympics programme in the British Isles, which was officially accredited in 1978.

We are proud to be one of the first European programmes of the global Special Olympics Movement.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Chris Maloney MBE

“Special Olympics means that I get the chance to prove that having a disability does not stop you from succeeding to do things. It has given me self-respect and taught me not to be ashamed of my disability.” - Jamie Kelly, Athlete

Special Olympics Mission

To provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities - giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.

4.4 MILLION ATHLETESMORE THAN 81,000 COMPETITIONS EACH YEAR

1.3MILLION COACHES AND VOLUNTEERS

32 OLYMPIC-TYPE SPORTS

MORE THAN

170 COUNTRIES

4,000 VOLUNTEERS

8,000 ATHLETES

26 INDIVIDUAL AND TEAM OLYMPIC- STYLE SPORTS

150 CLUBS AND DELIVERY NETWORKS IN ENGLAND, SCOTLAND & WALES

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Our Competition Pathway

What makes us different

Our Competition Pathway makes Special Olympics unique within the disability sports sector.

It provides opportunities for athletes of all abilities to compete and progress at local, regional and national levels and to have the opportunity of being selected to represent Great Britain at an international level. Our Competition Pathway is inclusive, as our athletes are also encouraged to participate in competitions organised by, or in partnership with, National Governing Bodies (NGBs) or other sports partners.

Meaningful competitionSpecial Olympics celebrates the performance of every athlete and through the process of ‘divisioning’ ensures that meaningful competition takes place.

‘Divisioning’ ensures that only athletes of similar ability compete against each other. The past performance of athletes is used to help place them into the correct division for competition. Ability, age and gender are all taken into account in the divisioning process.

Divide by gender Firstly, athletes are divided by gender. Ideally, females compete against females and males compete against males. When a team consists of both male and female athletes the team is considered as a male team and competes in a male division.

Divide by age The next step is to divide the group by the athletes’ ages in the categories below:

Divide by ability To complete the process, the group is divided according to their ability, with a minimum of three and a maximum of eight athletes or teams of similar ability in each group. This means that in any particular event there may be multiple gold medal winners, one from each of the divisions.

Honest effort If, when competing, an athlete exceeds their previous performance by more than 15 percent, then their performance is recorded but not recognised with a winner’s medal or ribbon.

This can be hard for individual athletes to accept and disappointing when they have produced a personal best performance during a major competition. The divisioning process is important in helping to maintain the concept of meaningful competition. The entry/divisioning score should be the score of the athlete to date. The idea is that a 15% increase on this score is a very fair allowance for performance improvement in a final. The role of the coach is, therefore, critical in keeping accurate records of the athletes’ times/distances over a number of training sessions and takes into account, as far as possible, the impact of the competition environment on an athlete.

“ An athlete cannot join a club and straight away compete at national level, without having first completed sufficient training and competition. Before entering a local competition, our athletes should have trained for a minimum of eight weeks, and after that for 26 weeks before entering any regional competition.”

- Competition Development Manager, Emily Onley.

Special Olympics Great Britain offers sports training and competition in 27 summer and winter sports for people of all ages with with intellectual disabilities.

Individual Sports Team Sports8 - 11 years 15 years and under

12 – 15 years 16 – 21 years16 - 21 years 22 years and over22 – 29 years

30 years and over

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SPECIAL OLYMPICS COMPETITION PATHWAY

ATHLETES/UNIFIED PARTNERS MUST COMPLETE EIGHT WEEKS OF TRAINING

IN THE SPORT

COME & TRY EVENT, TRAINING EVENT, INFORMAL/FRIENDLY

COMPETITION

LOCAL

ATHLETES/UNIFIED PARTNERS MUST COMPLETE A FURTHER 26 WEEKS OF

TRAINING IN THE SPORT

REGIONAL/SUPER REGIONAL

ATHLETES/UNIFIED PARTNERS MUST COMPLETE A FURTHER 26 WEEKS OF

TRAINING IN THE SPORT

26 WEEKS

REGIONAL

REGIONAL

LOCAL

NATIONAL

LOCAL

LOCAL

COMPETITIONS AIMED AT ELITE ATHLETES

AND MAY NOT MEET ANY OF THE CRITERIA ABOVE.

PARTNERSHIP**COMPETITION

PATHWAY

COMPETITION PATHWAY (EVENTS NOT ORGANISED

BY SPECIAL OLYMPICS***

ELITE/MAINSTREAM COMPETITION

PATHWAY

1 YEARS

NATIONAL

NATIONAL

INTERNATIONAL

2 YEARS

INTERNATIONAL

INTERNATIONAL INVITATIONAL COMPETITIONS

EUROPEAN GAMESWORLD GAMES

NATIONAL

Competition criteria explained:• Athletes competing in events for

individuals with an intellectual disability must meet the Special Olympics GB eligibility criteria – i.e. they must have an intellectual disability and not a learning difficulty or other impairment.

• The competition must be open to athletes of all abilities – i.e. it cannot be just for elite athletes with an intellectual disability or those who reach a certain level of performance.

• The competition must be banded by ability – every athlete or team should have a reasonable chance of winning their event. Special Olympics calls this process ‘divisioning’.

• There can be no more than eight competitors or teams in each division. However to give meaningful competition, there should also be at least three athletes or teams in each division.

• Awards must be presented for each division (medals can be given for 1st to 3rd places, but another type of award - e.g. ribbons should be given for 4th to 8th places).

** Examples of partnership competitions

• An inclusive event where athletes with an intellectual disability compete alongside non-disabled athletes.

• A pan-disability competition involving athletes with other impairments as well as those with an intellectual disability.

• A competition just for athletes with an intellectual disability organised by another organisation on behalf of, or in partnership with Special Olympics GB.

*** These events are not covered by Special Olympics GB insurance and may not follow Special Olympics GB policies and procedures. Specific details are provided by organisers so that Special Olympics GB can advertise the competition to its membership.

COMPETITIONS RUN BY SPECIAL OLYMPICS CLUBS/REGIONS/NETWORKS

FOR ATHLETES REGISTERED

INTERNATIONAL

REGIONAL

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Our Year-round Competition Programme

All Special Olympics competitions are ‘banded’ to ensure meaningful competition (see page 6) at all levels of ability. This means that athletes of any ability can be selected to represent their region at a national competition, or Great Britain at an International Competition.

In 2014 we continued to provide the opportunities for our athletes to take part in sports competitions.

• Over 540 athletes took part in Special Olympics GB national single competitions in 2014.

• Hundreds more took part in events organised by NGBs and partners organisations.

National Competitions Highlights

• Over 70 athletes gathered in Sheffield to compete at our first stand alone National Basketball competition in over 10 years.

• A National Bocce Competition hosted by Special Olympics North West saw over 30 athletes taking part.

One of the event volunteers of the Bocce competition Lindsey Wharton, said: “I really enjoyed the day and interacting with the young people; their enthusiasm is infectious and ability way beyond anything I could hope to achieve.”

International Invitational Competitions

• A GB team of 49 athletes competed at the Special Olympics European Summer Games in Antwerp (read more on pages 12-14).

• 20 British athletes competed in four international invitational competitions, including the Invitational Swimming Competition in Monaco in March, Invitational Figure Skating Competition in Vienna, the Special Olympics Southern California Summer Games in Los Angeles and the European Open Water Competition in Sneek, The Netherlands.

2011 96

International LocalRegionalNational

2012

2013

2757111

2014 98

11873

58

20

25

14

10

11

5*

total OUR COMPETITIONS BREAKDOWN

12670 29243

*Includes the European Summer Games in Anwerp

Special Olympics bounces back on the basketball court

A GB squad competed at the European Open Water Competition in Sneek, the Netherlands

Swimmer Paul Rowland proud to compete in Monaco

Calum Titmus, Megan McFarlane and Cameron Sargent were delighted to skate in Vienna

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The 2014 European Summer Games, Antwerp

In September, 49 athletes represented Great Britain at the Special Olympics European Summer Games in Antwerp, Belgium. They competed in seven sports over six days and brought home a total of 99 medals and 36 ribbons.

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, hosted a special reception on the morning of 8 September to celebrate and honour the 2014 GB Team heading to Belgium.

The reception was followed by a celebration at the Belgian Embassy kindly hosted by His Excellency, Guy Trouveroy.

As the exclusive travel partner, Eurostar transported the athletes and coaches to Brussels, supporting with pre-departure logistics and ensuring safe and comfortable passage for the GB team members on their departure and return.

The Opening Ceremony of the Games took place in Brussels, where Her Majesty Queen Mathilde of Belgium proudly welcomed 2,000 athletes, their families, supporters and 1,000 coaches from across 58 countries to Belgium.

“You’re about to take part in an extraordinary competition, the Special Olympics. I’m sure there are going to be some great performances. You’re going to inspire a whole country; you’re going to change people’s attitudes towards disability, particularly towards intellectual disability, and you’re going to make us all extremely proud.”

- The Prime Minister speaking to Special Olympics GB Team members at the reception.

Ruairidh Brown of East Kilbride in Scotland won the men’s 15km road race with a time of 24 mins and 15 seconds – this was the first gold medal to be awarded at the 2014 European Games.

12 13

Reaching our potentialWe have been operating our transformative sports programmes in Great Britain for nearly 37 years and in that time have helped an estimated 30,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities to achieve better health, social inclusion, fulfilment and friendships along the way.

The ultimate vision for our charity is to ensure that Special Olympics GB becomes the recognised leader in the provision of sport to all children and adults with intellectual disabilities - ensuring the health, wellbeing, inclusion and dignity of all of our members - allowing them to achieve their full potential in life through our proven transformative sports activities.

Our focus, therefore needs to be on providing a high quality sports experience that is actively promoted within communities so people can easily see or experience it for themselves in ways that help change negative attitudes and create inclusion (as well as better health, longer life expectancy, more life prospects and many other benefits for our athletes).

Londoners with Intellectual Disabilities Get more Active

Five new clubs were accredited in 2014 with over 400 new athletes now actively taking part in regular sport training thanks to the London Development Project funded by the Greater London Authority. The project aims to generate a total of 16 delivery networks across London by the end of 2015 providing over 3000 people with an intellectual disability access and opportunity to take part in regular training and competition.

Through Special Olympics GB’s partnership with Mencap and utilising funding from Sport England alongside the London Development Project, over 200 Londoners with intellectual disabilities had the opportunity to try out a variety of different sports at a free Activity Festival held on 25 November at the Copper Box Arena at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The event was also aimed to raise awareness of the English Learning Disability Sport Alliance (also known as ELDSA), a breakthrough partnership between Special Olympics GB and Mencap to reach and support individuals aged 13 years and upwards with an intellectual disability in becoming and staying active. The festival was kindly supported by Sport England, Mayor of London, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Motivate East.

More action from the European Games

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New club in North East England

In June 2014, we celebrated the launch of Special Olympics Gateshead. Keith Hogan, Club Chairman, commented: “The passion of the local community has been overwhelming and the enthusiasm of our athletes in the area has been incredible.”

More support for our clubs

We have changed the name and scope of our previously named ‘Sports Development Grants’ in order to enable development of our clubs across all areas, beyond sports and competitions.

In 2014, we awarded £10,758 to Clubs and Delivery Networks, through small grants to support the growth, enhancement and development of the Special Olympics activity they deliver. The Development Grant continues to be generously supported by our premier partner, National Grid.

Jason Cornwell, Programme Development Manager, said: “2014 has seen a lot of changes for the organisation, from developments in the accreditation system, to changes in how we engage with and support new members.”

What is a Special Olympics Delivery Network?

A Special Olympics GB Delivery Network is an umbrella group that exists to lead and bring together various Partner Organisations from the local area, each of whom has an interest in developing, supporting or taking part in intellectual disability sport.

Delivery Networks are led by an identified Lead Organisation from within this network, who will receive direct support, direction and - in some cases - funding from Special Olympics GB to manage and co-ordinate Partner Organisations that join the Delivery Network.

Partner Organisations may include independent sports clubs, potential funders, currently accredited Special Olympics Clubs, sports venues, County Sports Partnerships, Local Authority contacts, schools, colleges and many more!

Throughout the creation of Delivery Networks, current Special Olympics Clubs and their members will be supported so that they too can benefit from engaging with a local Delivery Network.

In November 2014, we were delighted to receive a three-year grant from Sport England via their National Disability Sport Organisation funding to continue the fantastic work initiated by the ELDSA in 2011 - 2014. The primary focus of the project is to develop Special Olympics Delivery Networks in nine geographical areas over three years - as well as engaging NGBs and the learning disability sector to provide access to high quality, regular and sustainable sporting opportunities to people with an intellectual disability.

At the Copper Box event, participants

took part in one hour sessions in athletics,

basketball, badminton, dance and boccia.

They were also able to try indoor rowing,

canoeing, tennis and a variety of other sports.

Proven successful legacy underway

Following our successful National Summer Games in Bath in 2013 the charity sought to revive its South West region. With generous funding received from the Coles-Medlock Foundation, we set about creating a new structure, providing a sustainable new network of clubs across the South West region.

In 2014, we were delighted to welcome Special Olympics programmes in Cornwall, Somerset, Swindon and North Devon. Each new club has been providing training to support a minimum of 150 people with intellectual disabilities. Additional delivery networks are due to be launched in spring 2015 including Bristol and Bath & North East Somerset.

Special Olympics GB President Lawrie McMenemy MBE attended the event in Gateshead.

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Motor Activity Training Programme ®

The Special Olympics Motor Activity Training Programme® (MATP) enables a meaningful engagement in sport specific motor learning for individuals with profound and multiple learning disabilities. We currently have about 100 athletes actively participating in MATP in GB.

“One of my athletes has cerebral palsy and profound intellectual disabilities and although I do ten pin bowling, ball lift and ball push with him and his carer, I also work with him using his weaker hand and get him to do ball lift with that hand. I also use cones and get him to lift individual cones and stack them with help at a level 1 assistance and hopefully after a while progress to level 2 assistance. That has taken roughly 6 months to get to where he is at the moment and his carer practises this with him too at his home.” - anonymous volunteer.

Dr. Niamh-Elisabeth Reilly, our MATP Manager, said: “The London MATP clubs, Area 51 and Haringey Day Opps, are planning their first joint London MATP challenge day in summer 2015. We also aim to hold a MATP national test challenge event in Sheffield in August 2015.”

Expanding Volunteering & Community EngagementDue to a review of the internal structure of the organisation at the end of 2013, a new department was formed and officially announced in January 2014. What had been the National Volunteer Department is now Volunteering & Community Engagement. The department provides a platform and focus for some of  the Special Olympics specialist programmes that enhance the lives of our athletes and their families and will target designated time and resource on their growth and development.

Gaye Barber, Director of Volunteering & Community Engagement, now has additional lead responsibility for Young Athlete Programme (YAP), Families, Motor Activities Training Programme (MATP) and the Athlete Leadership Programme (ALPs). The responsibility for overseeing the complete audit and review of processes for our Safeguarding & Welfare also sits with this department.

To support the addition of these new functions and through the receipt of generous funding from The Sylvia Adams Charitable Trust, Henry Smith Charity and Marsh Ltd we have been able to secure part-time resource to support a Safeguarding & Welfare Officer (Dr Ceri Christian-Jones), Volunteer Co-ordinator (Jo Montague) and for MATP (Dr Niamh Reilly).

“I cannot describe how inspired I was both by the athletes as well as your volunteerism. This weekend, you demonstrated the core of CRS for both our Company and HR. Thanks for welcoming us to participate and for making this an absolutely great experience for the athletes and their families.” - Mike McEnroe Vice President HR CCE

Volunteer Programme Highlights

• We retained contact with 70% of the 500+ volunteers who were integral to the delivery of our 2013 National Summer Games for 1,700 Athletes with an intellectual disability.

• We delivered seven Volunteer Induction training sessions for new clubs to a total of 147 volunteers.

• High levels of volunteer satisfaction (80%) overall. Volunteer satisfaction has been improving due to the efforts made in building a better relationship with the regional Special Olympics GB clubs, identifying their needs and providing them with more support.

• We continue working with our corporate partners and their employees carry on volunteering their time and skills at Special Olympics competitions, as well as supporting clubs around GB.

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A Growing Recognition

Congratulations to National Grid

National Grid’s partnership and volunteering efforts with Special Olympics GB to help organise and host the 2013 Special Olympics GB’s National Summer Games in Bath, scooped the “Best Single Project” prize in the Third Sector Business Charity Awards in 2014.

Kate Van Der Plank, National Grid’s Head of UK Community Investment, said: “This is the icing on the cake of what has been a fantastically valuable partnership for National Grid. Our relationship with Special Olympics GB, the way we brought in our supply chain and the way our staff felt that they had developed professionally as a result of their involvement demonstrates that thinking a little bit outside the box can pay huge dividends both for the charity and the business.”

National Grid’s partnership with Special Olympics GB has been running for seven years with over 800 staff involved in volunteering projects across the country.

Paddy Power gives a boost to our charity

In 2014, we welcomed Paddy Power as a supporter and have since seen its employees busy fundraising with an aim to raise £50,000.

They have taken part in endurance events like Tough Mudder and even taken a leap into icy waters at the recent Polar Plunge, all in the name of our charity.

“We are delighted that Paddy Power took on Special Olympics GB as its first Charity of the Year in the UK”, said Karen Wallin, Chief Executive.

We received a further boost in October 2014 when our betting partner placed Special Olympics GB collections boxes in each of their 307 shops across the country.

Schools Ambassadors Programme inspire young people

Special Olympics swimmer, Alex Thompson and 2012 Paralympic Cycling medallist Rik Waddon visited Aston Academy in Sheffield to inspire young people to get involved in sport.

Rik said: “As soon as we got there Alex got involved in helping with the swimming event that the school was holding. He was absolutely at ease with all the young people and very comfortable in the situation. We had a great session with the pupils and the school is keen to have us back again.”

Alex is one of seven Special Olympics school ambassadors who have been trained through a joint project with Youth Sport Trust. Following the training session in November 2013, each of the ambassadors committed to do at least two school visits. Each of the athletes is buddied up with a Paralympian for the visits.

The school visits are being supported by a grant from Mattel.

In 2014, a total of 23 school visits took place. Special Olympics swimmer Alex Thompson and 2012 Paralympian Cyclist medallist Rik Waddon

Athletes Leadership Programme

Each year our charity seeks opportunities inside and outside of Special Olympics for our athletes to develop new skills and improve their confidence outside the field of play. This year our Scottish cyclist Leanne Peters attended the Athletes Leadership Programme in Malta.

“After the icebreakers we talked about making speeches and then we had to write our own speech about what Special Olympics meant to us. Then we had to stand up and were videoed talking. I learned I need to look at the audience more.” - Athlete Leanne Peters

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The Queen honours our volunteers

Our Gymnastics Coach Jane Whetnall pictured below was awarded an MBE by the Queen in the New Year Honours for her services to disability sport.

Two volunteers were recognised in The Queen’s Birthday Honours list: Elaine Daykin, the founder of Special Olympics Redditch, received a British Empire Medal for voluntary service to Disability Sport.

Valerie Hanover pictured right, the Founder of North Shropshire Special Olympics, also received a British Empire Medal for services to Sport and People with Disabilities.

Accolades for our volunteers and athletes

In 2014 we were flooded by news of athletes, coaches and volunteers receiving accolades around Great Britain. There were so many awards, that it would take few pages to feature them all. Below is a selection of some of the awards showing the efforts of individuals and clubs being recognised in their communities.

Special Olympics European Summer Games Cyclist Ruairidh Brown pictured below was awarded the Scottish Special Olympics Award at the Scottish Disability Sport AGM and awards ceremony.

Ambassadors help Special Olympics go from strength to strengthIn 2014, the Special Olympics GB Ambassador Programme has provided huge support for the charity and increased awareness of our organisation and its year-round sports programme.

Our list of well-known personalities help to amplify the abilities of our 8,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities, with the target of reaching out to many thousands more who may be future athletes, coaches or volunteers.

A few examples of Ambassadorial activities in the last year include:

• Colin Salmon attended and supported Special Olympics GB tennis players Tom Mellor and Peter Millar at a special exhibition match at the Royal Albert Hall.

• Olympic medallist Heather Fell was an incredible support in advance - and also on the day - taking part in our fund-raising Polar Plunge event in Bath.

• Olympic gold hero Jason Gardener has been a constant support in the media, at events with our athletes, fundraising at the Polar Plunge in Bath.

• Olympic star Darren Campbell has been excellent with supporting television features for our athletes.

• Football celebrity and commentator Chris Kamara attending The Prime Minister’s Downing Street reception for our 49 GB athletes who went to Belgium for the Special Olympics European Summer Games.

The main purposes of our Ambassador programme are as follows:

• Engaging in a local sporting event – coaching clinics, competitions, skills, training.

• Attending Regional, National or International Games - presenting medals, speaking to local/national/international media.

• Conducting promotional interviews for the charity.

• Networking – with other players, team mates, colleagues and contacts.

Tennis athletes Tom Mellor and Peter Millar stole the show at the Royal Albert Hall and met former GB number one tennis player Andrew Castle

Ambassadors’ proactive networking can open up many opportunities for Special Olympics GB – so if you know a celebrity or a well-known personality who would like to help our charity, get in touch with chris.hull@sogb.org.uk

2322

Master Class for our Golfers

Six athletes enjoyed a golf master class from three-time major winner and Special Olympics Global Ambassador Padraig Harrington at Royal Aberdeen ahead of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open held in July 2014.

“I am happy to be able to play a part in the organisation which changes lives every day for

people with intellectual disabilities.” - Padraig Harrington.

Athletes meet Olympic Gymnastics legends

Olympic Games’ legendary gymnasts, Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner, put on a masterclass for a group of Special Olympics GB athletes on 18 August 2014 in Sidcup, near London.

“I have always been impressed withthe abilities of the Special Olympics athletes. Their determination to overcome their many challenges is truly inspiring.” - Nadia Comaneci

Special Olympics Exeter & District club received eight Exeter Sports Awards in 2014.

“To be nominated in so many categories was great for the club. If any of the people there had not heard of Special Olympics before, they certainly knew all about us by the end of the night,” said Paul Gray, Club Chairman.

Also, the club won the Devon Community

Foundation’s 2014 ‘Volunteer of the Year’ award.

Moreover, our badminton player Mark Goulder was recognised as Disabled Sports Personality of the Year at the Sefton Sports Awards in June 2014. Yorkshire & Humberside Volunteer Judy Burdass received the Riding for the Disabled President’s award from Her Royal Highness, the Princess Royal, Princess Anne. Judy has been a regular and enthusiastic volunteer with the RDA for over 40 years.

Aquatics coach Emma Inglis received a Sports Community Award for her work in the Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde area. Eastbourne Head coach Geoff Martindale received the Sparks Volunteer of the Year award.

Volunteer Paula Everest won the BBC Sussex & Surrey Community Hero’s Award, after being nominated by athlete Holly Tadman.

“I feel very honoured to receive this award and to be told that I have changed Holly’s life and will always be a hero in her heart is just the most amazing feeling.” - Paula Everest

Special Olympics Surrey volunteer, Sue Frett won the Community Award category at the 2014 Sunday Times and Sky Sports Sportswomen of the Year Awards .

2524

Taking the Plunge to raise funds - Polar Plunge comes to GBIf you thought the British winter weather was a shock to the system, then you have it all wrong. Over 200 people leapt into 20 tons of icy water for Special Olympics GB at the Great Britain Polar Plunge in Bath (6 December 2014) and in London (6-7 January 2015) to raise money and awareness for our charity.

Already a Stateside sensation, Special Olympics GB launched the Polar Plunge at the University of Bath and in London at the iconic Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The events included an Executive Polar Plunge where National Grid’s Directors John Pettigrew, Jon Butterworth and George Mayhew, Get Living London CEO Neil Young, Special Olympics Ambassador and Polar Explorer Rosie Stancer and Her Royal Highness Princess Tessy of Luxembourg were joined by athletes to be the first to Plunge in London.

“It was fantastic to see so many brave people take the plunge. Despite the cold weather, there was a warm welcome for everyone, and a great atmosphere. Our intrepid Plungers raised a total of £34,202 and the events helped raised much needed awareness of Special Olympics GB to a wider audience.” - Karen Wallin, Charity’s CEO.

“Thank you to everyone who took part, and to the businesses and individuals who gave up their time to help us promote and deliver these exciting new events." Plans will soon be announced for the Great Britain Polar Plunge 2015/16.

Executive Polar Plunge

Plungersraised£34,202

26 27

Looking ahead to a Unified Generation

Karen Wallin, CEO

We have a vision to ensure that Special Olympics GB becomes the recognised leader in the provision of sport to all people with intellectual disabilities ensuring the health, wellbeing, respect and dignity of all its members and allowing them to achieve their full potential in life through meaningful inclusion.

The reputation and public awareness of our charity keeps improving however we remain one of “the best kept secrets” in this country.

At present, Special Olympics GB is a national charity with a good local footprint of awareness but over the next three years in the lead up to our next National Summer Games we want to improve how we show others what our athletes can do. Our athletes tell us the biggest obstacle for them is stigma. When we raise awareness and engage the outside world, it changes attitudes.

We want to make every effort to engage the general public, in particular young people, key influencers like Government and the media in ways that let them see or directly experience Special Olympics. This includes taking every opportunity to work creatively with media, social media

and celebrities to increase coverage, recruit more spectators and help drive respect and inclusion at the community level. As part of our plans to engage a new younger audience - both with and without intellectual disabilities - we have been working closely with The Youth Sports Trust to develop a Youth Engagement Strategy.

Both organisations are committed to work in partnership to effectively drive positive action for young disabled people in sport (education and community settings) and we set ourselves an ambitious strategy to ensure that our infrastructure and programmes have the capacity to reach every child and young person with intellectual disabilities (between the ages of 2 and 25 years) in the United Kingdom by 2018.

Through our partnership we want to:

• Increase the numbers of young people with intellectual disabilities participating in Sport and High Quality Physical Education/School Sport.

• Increase in young people with intellectual disabilities competing and achieving in Sport (specifically Special Olympics GB and School Games Activity).

• Assist young people with intellectual disabilities to make the transition from school-based sport to community-based sport participation.

• Increase the number of young people with intellectual disabilities on the Coaching/Leadership Pathway (including number of active role models).

• Ensure that Special Olympics GB is recognised as an organisation that provides opportunities for children and young people with intellectual disabilities to celebrate their lives – through sport.

There are many ways you can support the team going to Los Angeles, including text donation.

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World Summer Games 2015 Los Angeles

We are delighted to announce that 115 athletes, five unified partners, 19 head coaches, 22 coaches along with five support team members, and three management team members from across England, Scotland and Wales will compete in 19 sports at the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Los Angeles (25 July - 2 August).

The World Summer Games is the global showcase event for Special Olympics and is held every four years by the organisation for its athletes. Around 7,000 athletes from 177 countries - along with 3,000 coaches, 30,000 volunteers and an anticipated 500,000 spectators - will take part in the Games.

The Opening Ceremony is expected to attract 80,000 spectators. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are Honorary Co-Chairs of the Games. To find out more information about the GB Team and details of how you can support the team please visit www.specialolympicsgb.org.uk/2015-world-summer-games

You can also follow the GB Team before, during and after the Games in Los Angeles via Twitter or Facebook, using either of the hashtags:

#ReachUpLA #GBTeamtf

City of Steel to host 2017 National Summer Games

We are delighted to confirm that our 2017 National Summer Games – the 10th of the organisation - will be held in Sheffield from Monday 7 August until Saturday 12 August 2017.

The Games will run for four days and five nights and will have more sports than the games in Bath in 2013. We also aim to engage and enable the participation of more young people, more female athletes as well as more lower-ability athletes.

The volunteering programme and Games registration will be launched in August 2015. In the meantime if you are interested in other volunteering opportunities please email volunteer@sogb.org.uk

If you would like to support our next National Summer Games in 2017 please email our CEO Karen Wallin at karen.wallin@sogb.org.uk

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Special Olympics Great Britain

SOGreatBritain

In Great Britain Special Olympics athletes with intellectual disabilities take on their own Road to Victory when they choose a sport, train weekly and take part in competitions.

Their Road to Victory helps Special Olympics GB athletes overcome the challenges and exclusion they experience daily.

Why not support the journeys of our athletes by undertaking your own Road to Victory challenge?

First decide which challenge level suits you best then select an event from a range of sports, distances, locations and times of the year. There is something for everyone from the super sporty to the complete beginner, as well as for both individuals and teams.

The funds you raise on the Road to Victory challenge will help set up more Special Olympics clubs around England, Scotland and Wales, which means that more people with intellectual disabilities in GB will have more chances to play sports, and be victorious!

I will be Victorious.Will you?

Road Victoryto

www.specialolympicsgb.org.uk/victory Did you know...? It is the second time the city of Sheffield hosted a Special Olympics GB National Summer Games - the first time was in 1993.

ft

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Corinthian House, 1st Floor, 6-8 Great Eastern Street, London EC2A 3NT

Tel: 020 7247 8891 Fax: 020 7247 2393

Email: info@sogb.org.uk

Registered as a Charity in accordance with the Charities Act 1960 No. 800329

Thank you for your interest in Special Olympics Great Britain.

If you want to get involved, or need more information, please visit our website: www.specialolympicsgb.org.uk

If you want to keep in touch with ongoing developments, you can join our on-line community via Twitter and Facebook.

f facebook.com/SpecialOlympicsGB

t @SOGreatBritain

You can help us improve the opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities to benefit from our work by donating to Special Olympics GB via Give as you Live:

www.giveasyoulive.com/join/sogb

or

Text your donation to 70070 (GBLA15 £10 or whatever donation you wish to make).

“Special Olympics means everything to me. It makes my life better.” - Athlete Michelle Moran