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Update from Michelle Carney, CEO Special Olympics GB

We find ourselves in extraordinary times.  A global pandemic, of the likes, none of us has ever seen before.  Yes, it is unsettling, confusing and it is hard to keep up with the pace of change.  COVID-19 is certainly a challenge and we know is having a huge impact on all our lives.  We have had to make some difficult decisions this week by cancelling all Special Olympics training, competitions and activity.  This is never easy, but it is necessary in terms of keeping all our athletes, volunteers & family members, safe and healthy.  The team at national office have been working hard on making sure that information is out there across the network and that the information is clear, concise and easy to understand. We will continue to provide resources and communications as the situation evolves.   

We know that a really important part of life at Special Olympics are the friendships we make and the fun we have.  It’s more important than ever that we all keep active and healthy, and as a team we are working on how we use technology to help athletes keep fit.  Keep your eyes out for videos/Facebook lives on fitness work outs and tips on how to keep your body and minds healthy.  The most important thing is that we keep calm and carry on, in true British spirit.  We have an amazing community and now is our time to come together as a Special Olympics family to help each other get through it.    

Away from COVID-19, we do have some exciting things happening.    
 
Board Development  

As many of you will know, we have been strengthening our board and at our most recent board meeting on the 12th March, a number of Trustees formally rotated off the board.  We give our sincere thanks to our former Chair, Murton Mann, Vice Chair Len Dunne, Miles MacKinnon, Phil Nathan and Greg Silvester who have committed an astonishing nine years to the Board.    

Greg has made a huge impact and will be difficult to replace on the board.  We have been working hard with our Athlete Leadership Team (ALT) over the last 15 months on personal and professional development.  We opened up the vacancy on the board to all members of the ALT and went through a full and transparent recruitment process.  Five of the seven leaders submitted their video applications which were considered by our Chair.  Three of the five were invited to a final round interview with the Chair and a fellow Trustee.  Each candidate was discussed at the Board Meeting and we are absolutely delighted to announce that Kiera Byland has been appointed to join the SOGB Board as a Trustee.  It was a tough decision, but Kiera was an outstanding candidate and will add considerable value to the Board as we continue to grow and develop as an organisation.  Kiera is currently Vice Chair of the Athletes Leadership Team and is also Chair of the SOEE Athlete Input Council.   Many across the network will already know the legend that is Greg Silvester. It was hard for Greg to step off the board after such a long and successful term as a Trustee, but Greg is not going far!  He will always be part of our SOGB family and has already agreed to mentor and support our ALT, and will sit on a newly formed Games Advisory Group.  
 
The Board were so impressed with all three candidates, Katie Day and Ian Harper will also take on new responsibilities.  For more detail on the ALT, news about our new dynamic Advisory Board, and a full update from me, please click HERE.     

Stay safe and healthy, 
Michelle

Meet our Athlete Leadership Team!

They are Ian Harper, Kiera Byland, Katie Day, Lyn Dumbleton, Matt Dodds, Niall Guite and Fleur O’Donohue.  You might know them as your Athlete Input Council but moving forward they will be known as the Athlete Leadership Team!  

Their aim is to act as representatives for all Athletes of Special Olympics GB and are committed to; leading by example, championing dignity and respect, supporting and promoting the Special Olympics GB Programme and encouraging the creation of inclusive opportunities for everyone, highlighting ability and not disability.  
 
The Team meet regularly and will run their official term until 2021 after the National Summer Games.  It’s been a really busy and exciting start to 2020 for the Team as they plan what they would like to focus on (and they have big ambitions!) and develop the future strategy of Athlete Leadership across Special Olympics GB. Stay tuned for more to come! 
  
As Michelle has mentioned, all members of the Athlete Leadership Team were given the opportunity to apply for the Athlete Board Trustee position to replace Greg Silvester. And we are delighted Kiera has been appointed Athlete Representative on the Special Olympics GB Board of Trustees.   All of the Athlete Leaders who applied were fantastic in their video and face to face interviews. Well done team! It’s fantastic to see their progression and development both personally and professionally through the Athlete Leadership Programme. 
 
To read more about this brilliant team and to hear what Michelle thinks about them, please click HERE

Sporting Highlights 

Swimming pools were the place where most of this month's sporting action took place.   
 
A fantastic day was had by all at the Special Olympics Eastern Regional Swimming Competition hosted brilliantly by Special Olympics East Herts. Congrats and huge thanks to everyone involved organising, cheering on & of course to our amazing athletes!  

Congratulations and huge thanks also to Special Olympics City of Hull and everyone involved in the Special  Olympics Yorkshire & Humberside Regional Swimming Gala. Judging by these pictures, everyone - especially our athletes - had a brilliant time. Competing, making friends, making memories & making everyone proud!  
 
Congrats also to everyone who took part in the Special Olympics Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Boccia Competition and the Gosling Learning Disability Tennis Competition in partnership with Special Olympics  Eastern Region.   All our athletes doing their best and having fun as it should be!  

And huge congratulations to World Games Judo silver medallist Harrison Lovett for his recent award for Sporting Achievement at the Renfrewshire Council’s Provost’s Community Awards. Not bad for someone whose parents were told, it was unlikely he would ever walk, talk or even sit up! 

If you have a story about any athletes or want to put forward someone who you think deserves a special mention or even if you have an idea for something which you think might help our athletes at the moment - please send details and pictures to ALISON LAVENANT
 
And please, don’t forget to follow us on TwitterFacebook and Instagram for lots more stories about our athletes and what’s been going on.  

National Office - Three new faces and one sad goodbye 

This month we welcomed three new staff to our team at national office.  Afsheen Panjalizadeh has joined the team as Competition Manager and will be working on the competition framework with a key focus on National Summer Games 2021.  Afsheen has considerable experience in major sporting events and worked with Special Olympics International on the World Summer Games 2019. To read more about Afsheen click HERE.  

Amber-Lee Ohashi has been working with us on a temporary basis since November and we appointed her as our permanent Finance Manager at the beginning of this month.  Amber-Lee has a wonderful energy and it is the first time we will have had full time finance support.  She is already making a huge difference.   

After a long search, we have finally found a new Executive Assistant.  Anna Wilberforce joined us a couple of days before the board meeting and has had quite a challenging introduction to Special Olympics!  She has shown herself to be a perfect addition to the team by remaining calm and supportive throughout our imposed working from home situation. Anna will be the voice of the main phone line and her role is predominately to keep me organised and support the Board.   

I am sure you will join us in welcome Afsheen, Amber-Lee and Anna to the SO family.   

This month we also bid a sad farewell to Tim Masih who will be leaving us at the end of the month. Tim has been with us for just over 18 months, working in our Network Development Team.  We wish Tim the very best of luck with his future endeavours.   

For a detailed breakdown of who is doing what at national office please click HERE.  

Congrats Mary Davis! 
 
Huge congratulations to Special Olympics CEO, Mary Davis on being selected as one of the Top 10 most Influential Women in Sport 2020 in recognition of her brilliant work for Special Olympics both globally and here in the GB. 

Many thanks to the hugely influential iSportconnect for including our legendary leader! 
Can you help please? 
 
Special Olympics GB  has been nominated for the Nielsen's Community Organisation Award for Disability at the coming National Diversity Awards 2020 in association with ITV News .  

We need your help to get us through to the next stage.  So please, if you can, click HERE and get voting.  Thank you!
 
Special Olympics GB Unified Mile 2020 - update

As you are aware, The Special  Olympics  GB Unified Mile, part of the Vitality Westminster Mile, is taking place on Sunday 24 May in Central London.

To date, London Marathon Events have not postponed the event and registration is still open. However, circumstances impacted by Covid-19, continue to change rapidly. The health and well being of athletes and all taking part is everyone's priority, therefore the situation will be monitored closely and please revisit the Special Olympics GB website for future updates.

Thank you for your understanding. 

In the meantime, please follow the Government's advice and take care.

Competition and Events update and Resources Available

As you are now aware it has been decided that NO Special Olympics activity is to take place in any club until further notice as a precautionary measure against the spread of Covid-19.  

If you'd like to read the full statement from our Chief Operating Officer Paul Lockyer, please click HERE

You can also watch a video from Michelle Carney, CEO of Special Olympics GB to  our athletes explaining what’s happening. This can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiIg3IMxPdY

If you are an athlete and you have any questions, you can email us at athletes@sogb.org.uk or if you prefer, you could speak to someone at your local club who we are sure will be happy to help. 

We thought it might be useful to share some of the resources which we've come across which might help explain what is going on.   From easy read guides to fitness and exercise ideas to keep us moving while we're at home, for more information click HERE

As we come across more things we will continue to update, so please keep checking on this page. 

And in terms of the National Summer Games next year in Liverpool - Laura, Afsheen and Donna are all working hard on plans and there should be no problem for the Games to go ahead next year.  Watch this space for more news on this in next month's newsletter!

And finally...

Can you believe this time 12 months ago, the World Games in Abu Dhabi had just taken place?!  A lot has changed since then, but the spirit of Special Olympics most certainly has not!  We thought you'd enjoy seeing some of the amazing pics from last year's Games.  In these tricky times we have to stay strong, be kind and be determined - just like last year.  
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