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 thank you for your generous support.

Official Supporters

Cash 4 Clubs, Channel 4, Chris Knott Insurance, Coutts Charitable Trust, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Geoff & Fiona Squire Foundation, JWT, Lexis PR, Orrick, Royal & Ancient, Simpson Wreford & Partners, The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation, The Chapman Charitable Trust, The David Solomons Charitable Trust, The Freemasons’ Grand Charity, The Gerald Micklem Charitable Trust, The Henry Smith Charity, The John Ellerman Foundation, The Pennies Foundation, The Rank Foundation, The Scotshill Trust, The Westbury Hotel Mayfair, Tottenham Hotspur Foundation.

Ambassadors

John Amaechi OBE – NBA Basketball Legend; Osvaldo (Ossie) Ardiles – Football Legend; Shaun Baker – Extreme Kayaker; Armand Beasley – Beauty & Fashion Guru; Graham Bell –British Ski Champion & BBC-TV Presenter; Moira Brown – Special Olympics Athlete; Darren Campbell MBE– Sprinter, Olympic Champion; Anna Hemmings MBE – Canoeist, World Champion and Olympian; Georgina Hulme – Special Olympics Athlete; Chris Kamara - Former Football Player and Manager & current Sky Sports Presenter; Lawrie McMenemy MBE – Football Legend; Katharine Merry – Sprinter, Olympic Champion; and Hope Powell OBE – Footballer and England Women’s Head Coach.

Board of Directors

Chairman: Murton Mann Vice-Chairman: Jim Blair

Len Dunne, Miles MacKinnon, Gordon McCormack, Phil Nathan MBE, Andy Reed OBE, Keith Wilcox and Greg Silvester. Honorary Treasurer: Ian Muir Company Secretary: Karen Wallin

Honorary Board

President: Lawrie McMenemy MBE Vice President: Paul Anderson OBE Pat England MBBS, Georgina Hulme, Ian Muir and Rosie Stancer.

Credits

Editor: Karen Wallin

Copy and Production Editing: Andrea Zapata-Nalsen. Intern: Susie Fairbrass.

Photography: With thanks to National Grid employees, including: Brian Roberts and John Feven.

Design: 773C www.773c.co.uk 01905 26816

Premier Partner

Official Partners

Official Supporters Charity of the Year

Please send your comments or queries about this publication to

Andrea Zapata-Nalsen at andrea.zapata@sogb.org.uk

Who we are

Contents

Our Growth in 2012 6

Competition Highlights 10

Our athletes make Britain Proud! 14

Our Partners support 16

In the spotlight! 22

London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games 24

Looking ahead to 2013 30

A message from our CEO 31

Who we are and what we do?

Special Olympics Great Britain is part of a global movement founded in the United States in 1968 by Mrs Eunice Kennedy Shriver, which today provides year-round sports training and athletic competition to nearly 4 million children and adults with intellectual disabilities in more than 200 countries.

Founded in 1978 as part of this movement, we are proud to be Great Britain’s largest provider of year-round sports training and competition programme for children and adults with intellectual disabilities for all ages and all abilities.

We believe that sport helps to transform the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and the families and communities around them.

Research from Canterbury Christchurch University

has clinically proven that our work positively changes

the quality of lives and showed that those who did

participate in Special Olympics had a higher self-esteem

than those who did not take part. Higher self-esteem

leads to more feelings of self-worth and more self-care.

Findings also concluded that those involved in Special

Olympics had wider social networks and lower stress

levels.

Almost 1.2 million people in Great Britain (2% of the population) have intellectual disabilities.

key facts about our charity

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5

Our Growth in 2012

We are proud of the increase in the number of clubs and participating athletes through an increased number of sports competition & training opportunities in 2012.

• Special Olympics new clubs include our accredited

branches in: Coleshill, Wembley, Skelmersdale,

Bangor, Essex.

• We also welcomed our new associate programmes:

Midland Mencap (Birmingham), Pontefract

Collieries FC (Yorkshire), Sutton Fitness for Fun

(Surrey) , Area 51 (Haringey), LOASS (Leyton) , St

Joseph’s (Hendon), Invicta Valiants FC (Ashford)

and Enfield One to One (Enfield).

Former professional footballers Duncan Ferguson, Chris Lawler, Mark Seagraves and George McAllister attended the Special Olympics Skelmersdale launch event held on 17 July 2012.

Special Olympics Wembley club will initially focus around football - with a view to extending further sports in the future as the club grows.

• Two additional Sports and Services Development

staff

• In partnership with Mencap secured funding for

two Learning Disability Sports Advisors

NEW CLUBS

650NEW ATHLETES SIGNED UP

6

We continue to promote coaching excellence

• 13 Volunteer Induction Training workshops

• £20,288 Sports Development Grants thanks to the

support of our Premier Partner, National Grid

• £1,525 Coach Education Grants

• Appointment of Special Olympics Technical

Advisors for 23 sports

Working in partnership for a more inclusive sporting landscape

In 2012, the English sporting landscape opened up to enable more people with intellectual disabilities to take part in sports at the community level within a mainstream environment.

Our charity has been proud to be part of the Inclusive Sports Project, a Sport England initiative that enables a more flexible and active role of County Sports Partnerships and national governing bodies to increase participation by disabled people in sport.   Similar development is also taking place in Wales and Scotland.

We also promote and deliver additional and inclusive sports opportunities through partnerships with National Governing Bodies.

In 2012 we saw further development of our relationship with Mencap Sport in our English Learning Disability Sports Alliance, through which we were able to secure funding from Sport England to employ two staff members as Learning Disability Sports Advisors, and our first ever London Inclusion Officer.

Partnership with the Riding for the Disabled  

We began 2012 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA), to work together to promote equestrianism and increase opportunities in the sport for people with an intellectual disability.

RDA Chief Executive Ed Bracher said: “Special

Olympics fits brilliantly into our current

strategic plan. This dynamic partnership

will help to create a far-reaching pathway

for our riders to compete in international

competitions. It makes good horse sense!”

Attending the signing along with Bracher were Special Olympics GB CEO Karen Wallin and Special Olympics/RDA riders Hayley Tallantire and Katy Crouch.

Rider Katy Crouch, attended Oaklands College, but at that time had no interest in horses or riding. Then Sarah Moreland MBE, our Equestrian Head Coach encouraged Katy to give it a go! Katy has never looked back and has now been riding for 5 years. Katy said: “I just love doing this, I never knew I could be so good at something.”

RDA & SOGB with Bob the Horse, Katy and Hayley

76

Sports Leaders UK

Thanks to our partnership with Sports Leaders UK (SLUK) two Day Certificate courses in Sports Leadership were held in 2012.

Seven more courses are planned for January and February 2013.

The overall aim is to award 50 Special Olympics GB athletes with Sports Leaders UK certification by the end of 2013.

34 Special Olympics GB volunteers and athletes were trained as Sports Leaders in 2012.

Dave Savidge, National Development Manager for Sports Leaders UK, said “I truly admire the hard work, time and commitment that these volunteers and Athletes have shown in support of Special Olympics GB. I hope they use their newly developed sports leadership skills for the benefit of future Special Olympics Athletes.”

In 2012, our friends at the Tennis Foundation celebrated their 25th anniversary.  They’ve always been one of the most progressive and inclusive national governing bodies and we’d like to wish them a happy birthday and we look forward to working with them further in the future.

“The candidates have such enthusiasm and passion for their work and they were an absolute

pleasure to work with” said Amy Fawcett from SLUK.

8

Our Volunteers

We continue to develop a fully trained and committed volunteer workforce to support our charity at all levels

• 500 new volunteers registered

• Our total number of volunteers currently

registered is 3,400

Our corporate volunteering scheme saw hundreds of employees from National Grid, CMS Cameron McKenna, Lions and Mattel giving their time and efforts to help us run events around the country almost every weekend of the year.

Saeed Rehman, National Grid employee

said: “My first volunteering experience was

absolutely brilliant. Watching the athletes

and how they enjoy themselves. Their

disabilities don’t exist when they compete. I

will recommend my colleagues to take the time

to volunteer, I didn’t think that way before

coming here…but it is an experience you will

enjoy to be part of.”

We continue to promote our Athlete Leadership Programme

We supported 16 athletes in their training and participation as volunteers at the 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games.

Also, two athletes received training to create easy to build websites (called wikis) as part of the Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia Wiki World Project, run by the Rix Center and funded by the EU.

GB Swimmer, Laura Mitchell, explained: “I

like to take part in the wiki project because

I make new friends. I also have learned to do

voice recordings, take great pictures and I am

getting better at speaking up.”

“Laura’s confidence has grown since the start of the project, and her typing skills have got faster,” added Louise Neill, Laura’s mentor.

Laura also represented GB at the Athletes Leadership Programme University seminar in Brussels in December, where besides practicing her training and new media skills, she also attended governance and public speaking workshops.

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Competition Highlights

Our athletes train week in and week out in their chosen sports for their chance to compete at local, regional, national and international competitions. We hope you enjoy reading some of the highlights from the extensive 2012 event calendar!

GB Skiers took on the Italian Slopes – January

Due to lack of snow in the British Isles, 73 skiers and 59 coaches and volunteers travelled to Pila, Italy, 15-22 January 2012 for the Special Olympics Great Britain National Alpine Ski Championships.

The squads skied their hearts out in near perfect conditions in Super Giant Slalom, Giant Slalom and Slalom in Advanced, Intermediate and Novice levels, over three days of competition.

Former Olympic skier and TV

presenter Graham Bell made a surprise visit

to the Championships. He said: “The snow

conditions in Pila were perfect: cold dry and

grippy that did not rut-up at all for the racers.

So we had a fair track for all the starters. I was

really impressed by everyone’s determination

to try their hardest. Chemmy Alcott would

be surprised how many of them used her as

motivation!”

Family members on hand to cheer-on our athletes

Graham Bell with skier, George Brunt

20local

competitions

74regional

competitions

14national

single sport competitions

10international invitational

competitions

84GB athletes

competing at

10

National Unified Football® Competition - March

The 2nd annual National Unified Football® Competition took place on 3rd March at the Leon School and Sports College in Milton Keynes with seven teams from across the country competing for the top step on the winner’s podium. The winner for Division 1 was Special Olympics Halton A, and Division 2 was Special Olympics Bolton Lads & Girls Club.

Unified Football® breaks down social barriers between people with intellectual disabilities and those without, both on and off the pitch. By creating mixed teams, the scheme promotes social interaction and full inclusion.

The teams were comprised of 7-a-side players (four athletes with intellectual disability, and three Unified Partners, without intellectual disabilities).

2nd Annual National Unified Football® Competition

National Indoor Athletics Championships – April

2012 Annual National Indoor Athletics Championships

2012’s Annual National Indoor Athletics Championships were held at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre in Edmonton, London on Saturday 31 March and Sunday 1 April. 235 athletes from across the country competed in track & field events including long jump and shot-put.

According to Chris Jones, Chair of Special

Olympics Southern Region and the charity’s

National Athletics Technical Advisor, “It was

a great day to bring your family down to a

free national sporting event. Most people

have never met someone with an intellectual

disability – this is a great way to encourage our

athletes and make a difference in the way your

kids think about people who are different.”

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National Cycling Competition in Tameside – August

The Special Olympics GB National Cycling Competition took place on18 August at Tameside Cycle Circuit, in Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside. Over 20 cyclists of all abilities gathered and competed in Road Race and Time Trial events.

Tom A’Hara, event organiser and Special Olympics GB’s Cycling Technical Advisor, commented: “This particular competition is very important for the athletes as they strive toward their own personal achievement.”

“They will also have one eye on looking

ahead to the 2014 Special Olympics European

Summer Games and maybe also 2015 Special

Olympics World Summer Games.”

At Special Olympics GB, we are actively taking on the challenge of increasing our cycling membership. We are in the early stages of working with other existing inclusive cycling groups, with the aim of establishing access to cycling through the provision of venues and bikes, as well as offering lots of encouragement for Special Olympics athletes to “get on their bikes” generously supported by Evans Cycles.

National Cycling Competition at Tameside

National five-a-side Football Competition – October

National five-a-side football tournament Tameside Park

The National five-a-side football tournament took place at Tameside Park, Birmingham on the 14th November. It was Special Olympics biggest competition this year, with nineteen teams from England, Scotland and Wales taking part.

For over 30 years, Special Olympics GB has supported footballers in training and competition at local, regional, national and international levels. The beauty of football, as with most Special Olympics sports, is that it can be played by pretty much anyone, regardless of age, gender or ability level. Using Special Olympics’ competition pathway, anyone with a learning disability can play football, at any level of competition.

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National New-Age Kurling Competition held in Yorkshire – October

The first ever National New-Age Kurling Competition took place at Featherstone Sports Centre, Pontefract, West Yorkshire on 28 October, with 25 kurlers of all abilities competed in individual and pairs events. Athletes Steven Smith and Jessica Thomas, from Yorkshire & Humberside, won gold medals in both of their events. New-Age Kurling is not played on ice. It is, instead, an adapted version of the sport that can be played indoors. Players use a rubber discus with a handle and stainless steel ball bearings on the underside, so it can slide along on any smooth flooring, such as sports halls and dance floors. There are also pushers and ramps (sometimes called ‘chutes’) to make the game more inclusive for all athletes. The object of the game is to get as many of your stones closer to the centre of the target (a vinyl mat) than your opponent’s stones.

New-Age Kurling has quickly become a popular sport, as individuals with a disability can play with, or against, non-disabled athletes, on an equal level.

National New-Age Kurling Competition held in Yorkshire

Athletes excel in Artistic Gymnastics Nationals - November

Nearly 60 athletes competed at our National Gymnastics Artistic competition, held 2nd- 3rd November in Cardiff, Wales.

Athletes from the Eastern, North West, Southern, South West, West Midlands and Yorkshire & Humberside regions, joined athletes from Wales to compete in various disciplines; female gymnasts performed in floor, vault, beam and uneven bars, whilst male athletes competed in rings, vault, floor, as well as in horizontal bars, pommel horse and parallel bars.

A highlight of this competition was to see three former Special Olympics gymnasts Greg Silvester (picture) Sam Goddel and Claire Andrews – coaching at the event.

“This is a real evidence of the transformative

effect Special Olympic has in people with

intellectual disabilities. Just like with

mainstream athletes, as they reach towards

the end of their career as performers, many

Special Olympics athletes also want to stay

involved in the sport that they love and pass

on their experience to a new generation as

qualified coaches”, explained Andy Heffer,

Special Olympics GB’s Director of Sports &

Service.

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Our athletes make Britain Proud!

Gold Medal to British Gold Medal to British Figure Skater – April

Figure Skater Calum Titmus competed at the Special Olympics Austria 4th National Winter Games held in Vienna on 16-18 March 2012, alongside skaters from Russia, Germany, Slovakia, Iceland and Austria. After two days of competition, Calum won a Gold medal at Level 3 men›s events.

Surrey Ten Pin Bowlers success in Munich – May

A Ten-Pin Bowling squad from Surrey (pictured) struck gold at the Special Olympics Germany 8th National Games held in in Munich on 20- 26 May 2012. The team returned home with seven gold medals and one silver after playing at the Dream Bowl Palace, one of the largest bowling centres in the world. Along with the bowlers, four Tennis players from the City of York also competed in Munich.

Figure Skating was introduced to the GB sports programme in 2011. Calum became the first ever

Figure Skater to represent and win a medal for GB in this sport.

“We didn’t think we would win because of all

the people, but we did our best for GB and

got gold! I am so happy to have played for my

country!” commented bowler Scott Hastings.

14

Four gymnasts from Special Olympics Cheshire

East represented GB at the Spanish Special

Olympics National Games in Barcelona and

returned with 7 gold, one silver and a bronze

medal.

British athletes excel in Puerto Rico, Russia and Ireland - September

While thousands of athletes were in London for the Paralympics, a Special Olympics GB Team of ten athletes and four coaches travelled to Ioshkar Ola, Russia to compete at the Special Olympics Russia International Athletics event 8-12 September. GB athletes returned with a total of 17 medals (five Gold, four Silver and eight Bronze) after competing at 21 events.

Not so far from home, 18 Special Olympics GB golfers were accompanied by six coaches to participate in the Special Olympics Triple Crown Golf

Tournament event 10-11 September in Dublin. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, a strong team of swimmers excelled at the 1st Special Olympics World Aquatics Competition, which took place from 10-17 September in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Volunteer Chairman of Special Olympics

Hastings and Rother, Ian Stewart, who is

also the father of one of the swimmers

commented: “Every member of the GB

team won at least one medal, which is

brilliant. Overall, the team performed

magnificently and represented GB in the

best possible way.”

Eight athletes also competed at the Special Olympics European Bowling Competition in Cyprus in October.

GB athletes travelled to Russia Our Golfers played in Dublin

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Our Partners support

A new horse for St Albans club thanks to National Grid

Special Olympics St Albans club has a new horse thanks to our Premier Partner, National Grid. After an 18 month long fundraising campaign, East Anglia National Grid officially introduced the new horse, called Navitas (the Latin word for energy), to the St Albans coaches and athletes in a ceremony held on Friday 20th July.

The campaign included several fundraising events organised by National Grid employees who raised enough funds to purchase a new horse as well as a customized saddle and blanket.

Dave Harman, Special Olympics GB Eastern

Regional Chair commented, “I was struck by

the enthusiasm of the National Grid volunteers

and supporters.”

Special Olympics earns its Spurs to promote Unified Football®

Our charity was delighted to link up with National Grid and the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation in North London on the 23 July, as part of the 2012 Beyond Sport Summit event to which both Special Olympics and National Grid were joint Presenting Sponsors.

The event consisted of a Unified Football demonstration competition held at the White Hart Lane Community Sports Centre.

Julian Buttery, from National Grid, explained: “As a company, National Grid is delighted to take our relationship with Special Olympics GB to another and quite unique level. Unified Football is a pioneering sporting programme for people with intellectual disability and we are proud to be associated with it.”

16

18 Clubs Benefit from Cash4Clubs scheme

18 Special Olympics clubs in England, Scotland and Wales received a total of £7,500 in grants ranging from £250-£1,000 from Betfair’s Cash4Clubs scheme. The grants were used for various purposes ranging from purchasing sports equipment, staging regional competitions, developing a new sport programme, coaching costs, transport costs, and hosting “come and try” events to increase club membership.

A penny goes a long way!

Since November 2010, our charity has received over £250k raised by generous Domino’s customers, who rounded up the price of their orders when buying pizza online and donated their ‘spare change’ to the charity, through Pennies, the electronic charity box.

The funds are being used to develop and grow a number of key priority areas for the charity including the launch of the unique Motor Activities Training Programme® which is a play and activity programme specifically designed for people with profound and multiple impairments. Alongside this the funds will ensure that the charity can significantly increase its daily sports opportunities and raise awareness of the benefits of taking part in the programme.

Bob Billson, SOGB’s Development Manager said, “Our aim is to introduce MATP to a wide ranging audience of people from various backgrounds such as physiotherapists, teachers and residential service providers, and then create a nationwide network of ‘Approved centres’ enhancing the health, wellbeing and quality of life for people with profound impairments”

Special Olympics Wales was one of the beneficiaries of Cash 4Clubs grants

If every one of the 43 million cardholders in the UK gave 30p once a month (equivalent to a penny a day), it would raise more than £150m a year.

1716

John Amaechi launches Unified Sports® initiative supported by Coca-Cola GB

Former NBA star and an ambassador for the charity, John Amaechi OBE, returned to the basketball court on 23 February to launch our Unified Sports® programme supported by Coca-Cola Great Britain.

The programme offers people with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to play sport in the same team as those without intellectual disabilities for sports training and competition. Basketball along with table tennis, tennis, badminton (doubles) and sailing will be the sports included in this initiative.

The addition of new sports to the initiative builds on the success of the charity’s Unified Football® programme, which has established itself as one of the best inclusive models to benefit and empower people with intellectual disabilities.

John said, “Unified Sports programmes will play a valuable role in breaking down barriers in an

environment that promotes equality and inclusion. With such a great range of sports to choose from

now everyone can get involved.”

John Amaechi launches unified sportsFlag bearers at match -- CREDIT Action Images

Thanks to Coca-Cola GB eight of our footballers walked in their football heroes’ footsteps in Ukraine after being selected to lead out the England team as flag bearers at England’s first match versus France at the UEFA EURO Cup 2012™.

18

Thousands raised funds for our charity at The British 10k Run

1,650 runners took to the streets of central London for the British 10k run powered by Nike+ on Sunday 8 July and raised over £160,000 for our charity.

Employees from the charity’s corporate partners showed their support - including six National Grid employees who paired with our athletes to run the 10k together - as well as 200 more running the race as individuals.

CMS Cameron McKenna and ABB employees also showed their support, as well as hundreds of supporters from Amway, UBS, Barclaycard, Mattel, KPMG, Aviva and Blackbaud.

Richard Murphy one of the 10 athletes who ran the 10k said: “I wanted to run because it is a very special occasion, and to help promote Special Olympics.”

We also received the generous support from football legends Ray Wilkins MBE and Phil Brown, and our ambassadors TV football pundit Chris Kamara, Olympian Katharine Merry, six-time Olympian and BBC Ski Sunday host Graham Bell, World and Olympic Champion Canoeist Anna Hemmings MBE, Joe Wilson BBC Sport, singer Heather Small, TV personalities Linda Barker and Fia Tarrant.

Katharine Merry, Special Olympics GB

Ambassador since 2007, added: “I had never

met someone with intellectual disabilities

before I became an Ambassador with Special

Olympics – their athletes inspire me! 10K is a

very doable distance for anyone and a great

way to raise money for a charity that makes

such a difference in peoples’ lives.”

Special Olympics Athletes run The British 10K

1918

CMS donates £115K to our Charity

In October, we were thrilled to receive a £115,000 donation from CMS Cameron McKenna. The amount was raised over 16 months through a dynamic and enthusiastic team of CMS employees who organised innovative fundraising activities to support our charity, including a Battle of The Bands, interesting Quiz Nights and Olympic themed challenges.

Dick Tyler, CMS Senior Partner, explained:

“I’m thrilled that we’ve been able to help

Special Olympics GB in this way. I’m proud of

the volunteering work that our people have

done and the ingenuity and effort that they’ve

put into fundraising. Special Olympics GB is

an inspiring organisation, and we’ve learnt a

lot from them - they do great work and their

athletes set an example for all of us.”

The two-year partnership of Special Olympics GB as CMS’s Charity of the Year began in May 2011.

Evans Cycles supports new Cycling Programme

In December we launched a dedicated cycling programme for people with intellectual disabilities, supported by Evans Cycles and the Pennies Foundation.

The partnership has been backed by Sir Chris

Hoy, who said “I’m delighted to support the

programme. Sport and cycling is a powerful

way to give people with intellectual disabilities

a focus and help develop their social network.”

The programme, led by Special Olympics Great Britain and funded through the support of Evans Cycles, aims to transform the lives of people with intellectual

disabilities and their families through the power of cycling. It will initially operate through a network of existing cycling projects run at ‘Wheels for All’ centres, which will be linked to local Special Olympics GB clubs.

The sessions will provide a safe environment for people with an intellectual disability to learn to ride a bike, and those who want to pursue the sport further will be given coaching and the opportunity to take part from local to national Special Olympics competitions.

The programme is being made possible through the support of Evans Cycles

20

and their customers, who will have the opportunity to contribute when shopping online at www.evanscycles.com. Customers will be able to round up their payment to the nearest pound via the Pennies system, which is an electronic charity box that makes giving easy and affordable.

Nick Wilkinson, CEO at Evans Cycles,

commented: “We are absolutely thrilled to

play our part in supporting the great work

of Special Olympics GB. The invaluable work

of Special Olympics through sports coaching

and programmes for people with intellectual

disabilities makes us feel proud to be helping

the efforts and energies of this special

organisation.”

£50K donation from gameshow celebrity special

Our charity was delighted to be one of the 14 beneficiary charities of the Channel 4 series ‘The Million Pound Drop’ celebrity special to receive a £50,000 donation. The series raised a spectacular £700,000 for 14 different Paralympic and disability charities.

Golfers meet Padraig Harrington

For the tenth consecutive year, our GB Golfers were hosted by the European Tour and the Wentworth Club on the opening day of their flagship event The BMW PGA Championships. Special Olympics Global Ambassador for Golf and three-time Major winner, Padraig Harrington was on hand to treat a lucky group of five Special Olympics GB Golfers to an exclusive putting clinic on Thursday 24 May.

“Meeting Padraig was great, and it’s even better that he is an Ambassador for Special Olympics. This was one of the best days of my life.” said: Mikael Undrom.

2120

Michael Phelps links up with Special Olympics GB swimmers

In October, nine athletes from Tayside were given the opportunity to meet Olympic swimming legend Michael Phelps.

Aquatics Head Coach, Eileen Ramsay, from

Special Olympics Tayside, said: “We were

thrilled that Michael wanted to take time out

during his stay in Scotland to spend some time

with our athletes. Special Olympics aim to

transform the lives of people with intellectual

disabilities and their families through the

power of sport and Michael’s visit will certainly

help in that objective.”

In the spotlight!

Two of our Volunteer Coaches appear in star in daytime TV show

Jane Whetnall on Channel 4

Our Gymnastics coach Jane Whetnall and Judo Coach Paul Everest appeared in the March and July episodes of Channel 4’s programme ‘You Deserve this House’.

The TV series presented by Amanda Lamb (‘A Place in the Sun’) takes the unsung heroes of the community and gives their homes a secret makeover.

The episodes took an intimate look at the life of Jane and Paul. Jane has spent over 80 hours every week for the last 20 years training children and adults with intellectual disabilities; while Paul has been involved with Special Olympics for over 12 years and is the charity’s volunteer National Technical Advisor for Judo.

Paul explained: “For me it’s the buzz you get from the athletes. They appreciate anything you do. Like all of us they have bad days but all they need is some encouragement. And the smiles you get from them when they win, you just can’t explain it.”

22

Special documentary following four Special Olympics athletes shown on BBC4

The documentary called ‘I Love Special Olympics’ which explores the lives of four Special Olympics GB athletes and how our charity has changed their lives, was aired on BBC 4 over the summer which helped to raise awareness the impact our work has on people with intellectual disabilities. The documentary has since been nominated for a BAFTA award.

2322

London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games

Special Olympics athletes compete at the Paralympics

We were proud to see two of our Special Olympics athletes, Table Tennis player Victoria Bromley and 1,500 metre runner Stephen Morris qualifying for and competing at the 2012 London Paralympic Games.

“Special Olympics has been crucial to Stephen

and Victoria’s development, providing regular

coaching and competition as they developed

their talents to the level where they can now

take their place among elite athletes with a

disability at the Paralympics. The Paralympics

and inclusion in mainstream events are two

of the opportunities that Special Olympics

promotes as part of its competition pathway,”

explained the charity’s Sports & Services

Director, Andy Heffer.

Athletes & Coaches as Torchbearers

Throughout the 2012 Olympic summer, over 60 Special Olympics Great Britain athletes and coaches were celebrated as Torchbearers at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The majority were nominated by their communities, while nine athletes and one coach were selected through Coca-Cola’s Future Flames campaign, in recognition of their achievements at the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens, to run the Torch Relay in Haverfordwest.

24

60 Torchbearers

two Paralympians

14 Athlete Games Makers

2524

Special Olympics & the Paralympics

Special Olympics is often confused with the Paralympics which is for elite only disabled athletes, including (as of this year) intellectually disabled swimmers, table tennis players and some track and field events. This is an exciting pathway to elite competition for Special Olympics’ higher-ability athletes.

Paralympics GB is responsible for selecting, preparing, entering, funding and managing Britain’s elite disabled athletes including intellectually disabled athletes at the Paralympic Games and Paralympic Winter Games. Special Olympics GB is a daily sports programme and competition pathway for only non-elite intellectually disabled athletes.

Paralympics Games are aligned with the Olympics. Special Olympics World Games take place the year before the Olympics. Both have international summer games every four years with alternating winter games. Both do divisioning or banding to create a level playing field for competition. Both organisations are committed to creating a pathway for disabled athletes to attain their personal bests.

Laura Mitchell In Britannia Row

Jason Coles with Usain Bolt

26

Sam Haslam wants to try the Olympic track

Sarah Goodere and Greg Silvestre volunteering for the Paralympics

Anne Jephcotte and Vicky Stone were proud to be Games Makers

2726

Athlete creates words for Paralympic mural Paralympics Banner competition-Joseph, Nathan &

Artist luke

Special Olympics swimmer Joe Peciuch and his friend Nathan Pillar, were two of the young teenagers who have made their mark for the Paralympic Games by creating the

words for one of seven murals displayed in the official Coca-Cola Pin Trading Centres at the Olympic Park and Hyde Park during the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Joe and Nathan’s mural celebrates ‘Determination’, one of the four official Paralympic values (Courage, Determination, Inspiration and Equality), and it was inspired by what determination means to them.

Joseph and Nathan words, which won them the competition were: “Determination takes you to amazing places and what a journey getting there! Enjoy the ride!”

Coca-Cola Great Britain also rewarded Joe and Nathan with a pair of tickets to a Paralympic event at the London 2012 Games.

The murals were created by artist Luke Embden, from Hackney in East London.

Our Athletes as 2012 Games Makers

Right at the heart of the 2012 Games, 14 Special Olympics GB athletes were fulfilling their roles as Games Makers and became fully integrated into the Olympics and Paralympics volunteer programme.

Having gone through the registration and interview process and undertaken three training modules, our athletes were assigned to roles within Transport, Event Services and Field of Play support at a variety of Olympics and Paralympics venues, including Wimbledon, the Excel Centre, and the Olympic Park and Stadium.

Special Olympics athletes like Sam have helped to realise LOCOG’s goal in achieving the most inclusive Games - not by design or sophisticated planning, but by gently and organically engaging with one person at a time and contributing to the overall richness of the most diverse team of Games Makers ever assembled in one place at one time.

Our athletes played a full and vibrant role to contribute to a legacy which, as an organisation, we hope will encourage a greater openness to, and better understanding of, all those from the intellectually disabled and other minority communities.

Sam Haslam was part of the Transport Team at the Olympic Stadium, he said: “I liked the London

experience and being in the same uniform as everyone else. It was really cool.”

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A Special Gift for the Torchbearers

Each one of our Torchbearers received a gift from “A Gift of Quilts” which was a Cultural Olympiad Inspire Mark Project. Hundreds of individuals, schools, brownie and guide groups, community groups and quilters around the country created hand-made quilts to present a quilt to every participating London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics country, as well as Special Olympics GB athletes, coaches and Ambassadors involved with London 2012.

Games Makers Choir supports our charity

After the huge impact they had on the success of the Olympic Games this year, London 2012 Games Makers were at it again in aid of charity. A group of these iconic volunteers performed in a choir to sing Christmas Carols at Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford City near to the Olympic Stadium the evening of 20 December.

The choir decided that all monies raised from the collections from the performance at Westfield on the night would be donated to Special Olympics GB’s 2013 National Summer Games in Bath. On the night over £400 was raised.

Wendy Creed, a Games Maker (GM) and

also a member of the Choir, said: “Charities

like Special Olympics GB help athletes with

intellectual disabilities to realise their sporting

dreams. That is why we as Games Makers are

thrilled to support your work.”

Kerry Foster as Games Maker at the Paralympics

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Faye Medcalf was a proud member of the transport team in Greenwich

Looking ahead to 2013

British skiers make Britain proud in South Korea

Seven alpine skiers competed at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in South Korea heldin PyeongChang from 26 January – 6 February 2013.

Over 100 nations with 2,800 athletes participated in the event.

Our athletes Elizabeth Allen, Jane Andrews, Robert Holden, Clare Lines, Luke Purdie, Wayne McCarthy and Mikael Undrom were accompanied by Head of Delegation Candy Wragg, Assistant Head of Delegation Alexis Williams, Head Coach Keith Parish, Coach Shaun Gault and CMS Cameron McKenna Corporate Volunteer, Rob Powell.

Chemmy Alcott, Olympic and six-time British

National Champion Skier, said: “I never got into

the sport to inspire people but it is a fantastic

reward for all the hard work I have put in. I

don’t want fellow racers to desire to be as

good as me. I want them to push themselves to

be the best in the World.”

2013 National Summer Games to be held in the City of Bath

Special Olympics Great Britain is delighted to confirm that the 2013 National Summer Games - the 9th in history - will be held in Bath for the first time ever and is the showpiece event every four years for the organisation and its athletes.

The Sports Training Village at The University of Bath, which has been used as a base for a number of countries competing at London 2012, will host the majority of the 12-sport event.

The National Summer Games will be held in Bath from 28 August - 1 September 2013. Over 1,700 athletes will take part in 12 sports events: Athletics, Artistic Gymnastics, Football, Boccia, Badminton, Short-Mat Bowls, Golf, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Table Tennis, Ten-Pin Bowling, Tennis and Swimming.

Karen Wallin, Special Olympics GB’s

CEO, said: “Over 1,700 athletes and 500

voluntary coaches - supported by a further

500 volunteers and estimated 5,000 family

members - will be heading to Bath for our

biggest national event which takes place every

four years.

“This is a very significant sporting event

and will require a large fundraising effort

alongside assistance and energy from the local

population to ensure the most successful and

memorable event possible for our athletes,

their families and the City.”For more information about the games please visit www.bath2013.org.uk

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A message from Our CEO

What a spectacular year! Firstly, a glorious summer of sport as the Olympics and Paralympics took place in London the memories and successes of which will live with many of us forever and for Special Olympics GB, 2012 has been the most successful year in terms of its development for over 10 years.

At the charity’s ‘Working Together to Reach Our Potential’ themed AGM in November we set out our priorities for the following year under the revised organisation Vision; To facilitate access to year round inclusive training and competition for ALL people in Great Britain with an Intellectual Disability through direct provision and partnerships.

During 2013, we will work to promote and deliver additional and inclusive sport opportunities to work towards achieving our Vision using Sport England’s Inclusive Sports Project which aims to get CSP’s and NGB’s to play a key role in increasing participation in sport by disabled people, developing a Youth Engagement strategy given that less than 10% of our registered athletes are aged under 16 and further developing our competition pathways through provision of competition management training to our volunteers and the successful staging

of a National Summer Games. Alongside and to support this vital work we will also be working to develop our volunteer programme including offering opportunities to our athletes to develop their skills outside of day to day sports participation as well as developing Health &Wellbeing forum to support lobbying of government and health professionals in the positive benefits both mental and physical for people with intellectual disabilities taking part in sport.

It is critical that we focus on not just what we do, but how we get it done and we have to acknowledge that rapid growth must be matched by quality in service and support.

I am confident we can continue to achieve great things by working together to reach our potential and i look forward to working with you all over the next few years to achieve this for the ultimate benefit of our athletes!

Thank you to each and every athlete, coach, escort, volunteer, family member, supporter and sponsor for helping us to achieve so much in 2012 and here is to a even better 2013!

Karen Wallin Special Olympics GB CEO

3130

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