The Industry Column – 24th June

Lawrie McMenemy MBE talks exclusively about his role as President of Special Olympics Great Britain in the latest Industry Column on Sportindustry.biz…

There is a certain level of lack of understanding about Special Olympics, especially in Britain. Many people confuse it with the Paralympics but it is an extraordinary sports movement in its own right.

The largest disability multi-sport event taking place anywhere in the world this year is the 13th Special Olympics World Summer Games. This event, in tune with the Olympic family, takes place every four years and will feature 7,000 athletes with learning disabilities from 185 countries competing in 22 sports. This year’s event will take place in Athens from June 25th to July 4th and we have 157 athletes plus 58 coaches heading out to represent Great Britain.

The global Special Olympics Movement got its start in 1968 when the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver (President John F. Kennedy’s sister) started a day camp for people with learning disabilities at her home in America. Today Special Olympics is in nearly 200 countries with over 3 million athletes.

I have been an ambassador for Special Olympics Great Britain (SOGB) for eight years now and the first Global event I attended was in 2003, the World Summer Games in Dublin. The opening ceremony was attended by the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Muhammed Ali, U2 and opened by President Mandela – the games were televised across the globe but not in the UK.

The charity provides year round training for over 8,000 athletes with learning disabilities in addition to a programme of competitions, yet the organisation currently receives no government or lottery funding so far. The charity therefore relies on significant funding from corporate partners, private foundations and general public and in September 2010, National Grid extended their partnership by becoming the charity’s ‘Premier partner’.

The partnership with National Grid is of great benefit across the regional SOGB programme with local Special Olympics clubs receiving additional community support through National Grid’s strong employee volunteer programme. To date National Grid employees have given up thousands of hours of their time to volunteer for charity schemes as well as mentoring the athletes in business studies to help develop a variety of skills for the athletes.

The ethos of mentoring the athletes has led to two of the SOGB athletes undertaking work experience with National Grid. One of those is the former SOGB athlete Greg Silvester who is now an ambassador and a coach. Greg has gained a level 2 NVQ and is now employed in the gas business alliance in Wolverhampton. Greg also sits on the SOGB board of directors and provides an invaluable contribution from the perspective of someone with a learning disability to help shape the charity’s future

The 2011 GB team athletes and coaches are now in Athens and like all competitors ahead of any major international championships; they are acclimatising and making final preparations, yet there is a real lack of recognition for the athletes’ efforts over here. The GB team contains gold medallists and World Champions and their achievements should be celebrated for the effort and commitment shown. At the end of the Games I hope they receive the welcome home ceremony they deserve.

To follow the GB team or to support please visit www.specialolympicsgbteam.org.uk