Earlier this year, Special Olympics Great Britain (GB) received a donation of £1,500 from the Pavers Foundation after Lynsey Fleming, Assistant Manager at Pavers in Tillicoultry applied to support the cause through the employee-grant initiative.
Special Olympics GB is a sporting event for athletes with special needs. Special Olympics GB is the largest provider of year-round, all ability, sports programme in Great Britain and supports over 10,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities on a continued basis.
Lynsey Fleming, Assistant Manager at the Pavers store in Tillicoultry said:
“My partner is a lifeguard and basketball referee, and for years has been involved as a volunteer with his local Special Olympic team. This year he had the opportunity to help with the GB basketball team. It is a fantastic opportunity for all the athletes that are involved as well as being very rewarding for the volunteers”.
The donation from the Pavers Foundation was used to help fund the travel and expenses of coaches, just like Lynsey’s partner, who generously volunteer their time to support the athletes.
Andy Heffer, Director of Sports and Development at Special Olympics GB said:
“Special Olympic's mission is to provide sports training and competition for people with an intellectual disability. The foundation of our work is our year-round local coaching programme but our athletes also love the opportunity to test the skills that they have learnt in competition. The pinnacle of our competition pathway is the World Summer Games which – for the ones lucky enough to be selected – is a reward for their dedication to their sport, often over many years.
Unlike the GB Olympic and Paralympic teams, Special Olympics receives no UK Sport funding and so donations from organisations such as the Pavers Foundation are invaluable in helping us to raise the many thousands of pounds needed to send our athletes to the Games.
The World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi were a great success for the Special Olympics GB Team where we won more than 150 medals including gold for our men’s and silver for our women’s basketball teams. Just as important were the memories of a wonderful event and then many new friendships made for our athletes”.
The Pavers Foundation was delighted to hear that March’s games were a huge success and is pleased to be able to support such a wonderful organisation.
To find out more about the Special Olympics, please visit www.specialolympicsgb.org.uk.
