The Vodafone Foundation supports the inclusion of athletes with learning disabilities within sport
Special Olympics Great Britain (SOGB) in partnership with The Vodafone Foundation today launched the Youth Unified Football Development Project. This groundbreaking football programme has been designed to break down the social barriers between young British athletes with learning disabilities and those without, by bringing them together on the same team.
Today’s launch in London saw a Special Olympics Unified team from Merseyside play against the All Parliamentary Football squad. The All Parliamentary Football squad is generously sponsored by National Grid Plc. Ex-Premiership official Dermot Gallagher refereed the match, the first of its kind in Britain.
The match was overseen by former Southampton and Northern Ireland manager Lawrie McMenemy MBE, who is Chairman of SOGB. He was supported by Sir Matthew Pinsent, The Vodafone Foundation Sports Advisor and SOGB Ambassadors England’s Ladies Football Head Coach, Hope Powell and NBA star, John Amaechi and six times World Canoe Champion, Anna Hemmings.
A Unified Football team from Merseyside played the Parliamentary Football squad on 22 October. Minister for Sport, Gerry Sutcliffe; Sir Matthew Pinsent, a Vodafone sports advisor, and Lawrie McMenemy, Chairman of Special Olympics GB supported the project.
Lawrie McMenemy said: “Projects like this show the power that team spirit can have in not only building friendships, but also in reducing discrimination and creating a positive opportunity for young people. By getting these youngsters to train and compete together we hope to encourage greater understanding, respect and acceptance of learning disabilities.”
Sir Matthew Pinsent, The Vodafone Foundation Sports Advisor commented: “Sport is a universal language and something all people can enjoy. The Youth Unified Football Development Project is a great example of sport overcoming barriers. I hope today’s unified match will be the first of many with The Vodafone Foundation’s support.”
The support from The Vodafone Foundation, a Partner of SOGB, has facilitated the expansion of the Youth Unified Football Development Project in Great Britain. As a result SOGB will now provide regular sports training for Unified football teams with players aged 16-25yrs across the nation as well as local, national and international competitions.
SOGB currently has over 1,300 learning disabled athletes participating in its football programme across the country. In 2007 the British football 5-a-side (female) and the football 11-a-side (male) teams won Gold at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai.
The Youth Unified Football Development Project is being funded across Europe/Eurasia by The Vodafone Foundation with a total grant of £500,000. This initiative aims to expand Special Olympics Unified Sports in local communities in Italy, France, Hungary, Turkey and Romania and will benefit 6,000 young people with and without learning disabilities over a period of three years.
SOGB hopes to generate more interest in Unified football in advance of the next Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens, which will be the largest sporting event in the world in 2011 with over 160 countries and 7,000 learning disabled athletes participating in 23 summer sports including football.
There are currently over 50,000 people in Eurasia/Eurasia playing football with Special Olympics with support from UEFA, national football associations and professional teams.
About The Vodafone Foundation (www.vodafonefoundation.org)
The Vodafone Foundation has invested over £100 million in projects since its creation in 2002 concentrating on disaster relief, helping disadvantaged children via sport and music initiatives and specific projects across Vodafone's 24 local Foundations worldwide.
About Special Olympics Great Britain (www.sogb.org.uk)
Special Olympics Great Britain is celebrating 30 years of providing free year-round sports training and competitions for individuals with learning disabilities. An army of over 2100 SOGB volunteer coaches and support staff train 8,000 athletes in 130 groups in 19 regions. Worldwide, more than 2.5 million Special Olympics athletes in over 165 countries train and compete in 30 Olympic-style summer and winter sports at local, national and international events. Through its sports programmes, Special Olympics strives to provide long-term benefits to individuals’ health, self-esteem and social integration.
Special Olympics Unified Sports® initiative combines athletes with intellectual disabilities and those without to provide another level of challenge for higher ability athletes and promotes equality and inclusion.
Special Olympics Great Britain’s Ambassadors include Lawrie McMenemy MBE, England and Portsmouth FC goalkeeper David James, Olympic Champions Darren Campbell and Katharine Merry, England Women’s Football Coach Hope Powell, Tennis legend Mark Cox, NBA superstar John Amaechi and England Basketball Team Captain Delme Herriman, World and Olympic Champion Canoeist Anna Hemmings, Extreme Kayaker Shaun Baker and SOGB athletes Georgina Hulme and Moira Brown.
Special Olympics Great Britain is a registered charity and is generously supported annually by individual and corporate donations and receives no government funding. Special Olympics GB’s Official Partner is National Grid Plc. Its current Premier Partners & Sponsors are the Coca-Cola Youth Foundation, ABB, SAS, Dominos Pizza, The Geoff & Fiona Squire Foundation, and Lions International.
Special Olympics and Paralympics are two separate organizations. Special Olympics provides year-round sports training and competition for individuals with learning disabilities of all ability levels. Paralympics provides sports competition-only for elite-only level multi-disabled groups including physical, blind and deaf.
For more information contact:
Jane Silverman, SOGB
07900 278 111
jane.silverman@sogb.org.uk
Pieter Graham, Four Communications
0870 626 0843
pieter.graham@fourcommunications.com