Donations to this project
are eligible for a 50% match
as part of
the
September 2023 Little by Little campaign!
until September 22, 2023, at 23:59:59 EDT
In June 2023, 73 Special Olympics Ireland athletes travelled to Berlin, Germany, to compete in the Special Olympics Summer World Games. Team Ireland came home with a remarkable 75 medals!
The mission of Special Olympics Ireland is "to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for adults and children from the age of 4, with an intellectual disability, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendships with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.”
Donations will contribute to supporting our Clubs’ Support and Development Programmes, which costs approximately $1,623,258 per year to operate. This programme encompasses club governance, support & development, Athlete Leadership and Young Athlete™ programmes.
Clubs are the heart of what we do and we are committed to developing, implementing and communicating processes, policies and procedures to instil a strong culture of good governance. By driving a strong governance culture, we will ensure that participation and opportunities are a quality experience for both athletes and volunteers. This programme also includes safeguarding in Special Olympics clubs and club recognition.
We are continuing to support our clubs to completely return to activity, post Covid-19. Volunteer recruitment, training and vetting is a huge part of this process, as well as upskilling volunteers to take on larger roles in their club, while still maintaining the standards of coaching and competition that we strive to offer our athletes.
We have also noticed a huge increase in the demand for an offering of training in combination with mainstream clubs, especially for more specialised sports. We are currently working on the governance and guidelines needed to allow this to take place, working closely with other NGBs so that we can stand over the standard of training that our athletes would receive in these circumstances.
Our staff, with volunteer support, are constantly working to see that we can reach as many athletes as possible across Ireland, and often this entails either expanding existing clubs, or setting up new clubs entirely, which involve a lot of planning, recruitment, admin and training. Thanks to the introduction of the Young Athlete™ programme, we have seen a steady increase in younger athletes joining Special Olympics clubs, and so we are working to develop and improve the athlete pathway within Special Olympics Ireland. This is to ensure that as athletes graduate out of the Young Athlete programme, we have options open and available for them to continue training and experiencing all that Special Olympics has to offer.
As always, a special thank you for your support. Your commitment to Special Olympics Ireland is so very much appreciated. Without you, we simply could not deliver on our promises.
Through the GlobalGiving Platform we are hoping to achieve a target of $10,000 for donations which will go towards the development of the Clubs Programme. We are delighted with all donations whether they are $10, $50 or $100. Donations of all sizes are welcome and will be thoroughly appreciated.
Warm regards, Special Olympics Ireland
Links:
The mission of Special Olympics Ireland is "to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with an intellectual disability, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendships with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.”
Donations will contribute to supporting our Clubs’ Support and Development Programmes, which costs approximately $1,623,258 per year to operate. This programme encompasses club governance, support & development, Athlete Leadership and Young Athlete™ programmes.
Clubs are the heart of what we do and we are committed to developing, implementing and communicating processes, policies and procedures to instil a strong culture of good governance. By driving a strong governance culture, we will ensure that participation and opportunities are a quality experience for both athletes and volunteers. This programme also includes safeguarding in Special Olympics clubs and club recognition.
We are continuing to support our clubs to completely return to activity, post Covid-19. Volunteer recruitment, training and vetting is a huge part of this process, as well as upskilling volunteers to take on larger roles in their club, while still maintaining the standards of coaching and competition that we strive to offer our athletes.
We have also noticed a huge increase in the demand for an offering of training in combination with mainstream clubs, especially for more specialised sports. We are currently working on the governance and guidelines needed to allow this to take place, working closely with other NGBs so that we can stand over the standard of training that our athletes would receive in these circumstances.
Our staff, with volunteer support, are constantly working to see that we can reach as many athletes as possible across Ireland, and often this entails either expanding existing clubs, or setting up new clubs entirely, which involve a lot of planning, recruitment, admin and training. Thanks to the introduction of the Young Athlete™ programme, we have seen a steady increase in younger athletes joining Special Olympics clubs, and so we are working to develop and improve the athlete pathway within Special Olympics Ireland. This is to ensure that as athletes graduate out of the Young Athlete programme, we have options open and available for them to continue training and experiencing all that Special Olympics has to offer.
2023 is an exciting year for 63 of our athletes in particular, as they are training hard as part of Team Ireland heading to the World Summer Games this June in Berlin. This has been a long and different road for our athletes, the pandemic severely effected our usual 4-year cycle that helps fully prepare our athletes for competing on the world stage. Our Team Ireland athletes however have adapted incredibly. They are training hard in the lead up to the games now, availing of not just their sports training but also the mental preparation and support that will make this experience a purely enjoyable one and help these athletes perform to their best ability.
As always, a special thank you for your support. Your commitment to Special Olympics Ireland is so very much appreciated. Without you, we simply could not deliver on our promises.
Through the GlobalGiving Platform we are hoping to achieve a target of $10,000 for donations which will go towards the development of the Clubs Programme. We are delighted with all donations whether they are $10, $50 or $100. Donations of all sizes are welcome and will be thoroughly appreciated.
Warm regards, Special Olympics Ireland
https://www.globalgiving.org/donate/28138/special-olympics-ireland/
Links:
The mission of Special Olympics Ireland is "to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with an intellectual disability, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendships with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.”
Through our sports, health and leadership programmes our athletes learn to be physically, mentally and emotionally fit. They get to learn new skills, increase confidence and most importantly they get to experience the joy of sport and make life-long friendships!
Your very kind donations helped to support a range of programmes across sport, health and leadership. One such programme is our new Health Messenger Programme which trains athletes as health & wellness leaders, within their community. Speaking about her own involvement in the Health Messenger Programme, Swimmer Patricia Larkin from Connemara said “I wanted to become a Health Messenger because I want to show my family, work colleagues, and my Special Olympics friends how important health is”
The Health Messenger program is empowering athletes to: develop healthy lifestyles; influence other athletes to lead healthier lives; advocate within their communities for inclusion around health and wellness services, education and resources; and develop leaders to advocate for the health needs of people with intellectual disabilities.
Donations received have not only helped the above activity across our programmes but has also helped our clubs nationwide to return to normal activity following the Covid-19 Pandemic and have also aided in facilitating the new advancement cycle which replaced our Ireland Games as the selection process for next year’s World Games. This has had a positive impact on the lives of our athletes, their families, our clubs, coaches and volunteers.
The 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games will take place in Berlin, Germany from June 17th to 24th. In June we plan to send a team of 73 athletes to the world games. Our support an athlete campaign aims to raise over €300,000 to support the costs associated with making our athletes dreams a reality. Your support will help Special Olympics athletes from across Ireland fulfil their dreams of representing Team Ireland on the global stage at the largest inclusive sporting event in the world.
As always, a special thank you for your support. Your commitment to Special Olympics Ireland is so very much appreciated. Without you we simply could not deliver our programmes.
Through the GlobalGiving Platform we are hoping to achieve a target of $20,000 for donations which will go towards our athlete programmes.
Kindest regards,
Special Olympics Ireland
Links:
The mission of Special Olympics Ireland is "to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with an intellectual disability, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendships with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.”
Donations will contribute to supporting our Clubs’ Support and Development Programmes, which costs approximately $922,101 per year to operate. This programme encompasses club governance, support & development, Athlete Leadership and Young Athlete™ programmes.
Clubs are the heart of what we do and we are committed to developing, implementing and communicating processes, policies and procedures to instil a strong culture of good governance. By driving a strong governance culture we will ensure that participation and opportunities are a quality experience for both athletes and volunteers. This programme also includes safeguarding in Special Olympics clubs and club recognition.
Now that the summer months are upon us, the brighter weather, along with the easing in government restrictions, has meant that more and more clubs which have provided such a valuable service to their communities are reopening, reuniting athletes and volunteers alike. We are thrilled to see our community of clubs, volunteers, and athletes active again at advancement events, interclub competitions and other related activities.
Special Olympics advancement events have been a welcome return to competition this summer, and it is encouraging to see so many clubs entering their members in a range of sports. It’s always a joy to see athletes doing what they do best but it is also a striking reminder of the dedication of our volunteer community. In recognition of the importance of our club volunteers Special Olympics Ireland launched the Special Olympics Volunteer Awards for the second year running. The awards create a chance for people across the island of Ireland to highlight the outstanding work done in their clubs and local community by Special Olympics volunteers. There are four nomination categories showcasing the great work of Volunteer Leaders, Youth Volunteers, Club Volunteers and Volunteers that encompass the spirt of Special Olympics Ireland, thereby creating an environment where sports and volunteering can thrive.
This June we witnessed a momentous occasion in which Young Athletes aged 8-12 years engaged in a pilot health promotion workshop for the very first time. Health education is so important from a young age to establish healthy behaviours for lifelong wellbeing.Young Athletes learnt about having a healthy diet, hydration and about the benefits of physical activity through an interactive games based approach. We look forward to expanding the Health and Wellbeing services that we can offer Young Athletes, their parents and coaches. By combining health education and play, we can ensure Young Athletes are fit for the future and have the knowledge and skills to take control of their own health literacy.
In the month of June we also saw a delegation of 19 athletes including coaches travel to Berlin to compete in the German National Games. This delegation was the first Special Olympics Ireland team to travel since the pandemic put a stop to sport and several Special Olympics Games and events. Teams competing in Badminton, Equestrian and Open-Water Swimming all gathered for a weekend of training and Strong Minds sessions as they bonded before the competition. Thanks to a hugely successful training campaign and our dedicated athletes Team Ireland returned home from the games with 14 medals and six placement ribbons after a very successful trip to Germany for all.
As always, a special thank you for your support. Your commitment to Special Olympics Ireland is so very much appreciated. Without you we simply could not deliver on our promises.
Through the GlobalGiving Platform we are hoping to achieve a target of $10,000 for donations which will go towards the development of the Clubs Programme. We are delighted with all donations whether they are $10, $50 or $100. Donations of all sizes are welcome and will be thoroughly appreciated.
Warm regards, Special Olympics Ireland
Links:
The mission of Special Olympics Ireland is "to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with an intellectual disability, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendships with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.”
Donations will contribute to supporting our Clubs’ Support and Development Programmes, which costs approximately $922,101 per year to operate. This programme encompasses club governance, support & development, Athlete Leadership and Young Athlete™ programmes.
Clubs are the heart of what we do and we are committed to developing, implementing and communicating processes, policies and procedures to instil a strong culture of good governance. By driving a strong governance culture we will ensure that participation and opportunities are a quality experience for both athletes and volunteers. This programme also includes safeguarding in Special Olympics clubs and club recognition.
In line with Government guidelines, Special Olympics Ireland is continuing to support its volunteers to ensure the safe reopening of clubs across the Island of Ireland. We are excited at the prospect of getting out and about over the coming months, as we work with clubs in each region on our “Let’s Get Back” communication campaign. The goal of this campaign will be to drive awareness and support for clubs as you navigate the current challenging health and logistical constraints. We applaud the enthusiasm, dedication and commitment of our club committees and volunteers and we are thrilled to see 97 clubs already actively running in-person sessions around the island of Ireland. In spite of all the challenges the past two years have thrown at us, our community is stronger than ever because we know we still have so much to achieve on behalf of our athletes, We Can’t Stop Now!
To further aid in the return of clubs across Ireland, Special Olympics Ireland launched the Club COVID-19 Grant Scheme in February. We hope that this additional support will ensure community sports clubs across the country can continue to deliver sporting opportunities at a local level so that our athletes can continue to flourish through participation in the sports they love. Applications will be processed and grants issued by end of March 2022.
On Saturday, March 12th over 100 Special Olympics athletes from all five regions took to the courts in Gormanston Park to participate in the Badminton Advancement event. This event was supported by 60 volunteers who were all delighted to be back in action. All athletes participated in singles competitions and Special Olympics Ireland was extremely grateful to have the support of Badminton Ireland ensuring, as always, that our athletes had top quality umpires and match officials to officiate the games. This event was the qualifying event for the 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Berlin so competition was keen on the day and the atmosphere was nothing short of magic.
As always, a special thank you for your support. Your commitment to Special Olympics Ireland is so very much appreciated. Without you we simply could not deliver on our promises.
Through the GlobalGiving Platform we are hoping to achieve a target of $10,000 for donations which will go towards the development of the Clubs Programme. We are delighted with all donations whether they are $10, $50 or $100. Donations of all sizes are welcome and will be thoroughly appreciated.
Warm regards, Special Olympics Ireland
Links:
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