By Jennifer Marshall | Regional Fundraising Coordinator
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.
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. It is important for our clubs to have the support they need to get back to training and we are continuing to develop up to date guides and documents to assist in their ‘Return to Activities’. We are proud of all our clubs that are sharing their learnings as they get back on their feet and embracing the Return to Activities Protocols to keep our community safe.
This October we saw athletes from the World Winter Games team take on the Special Olympics Ireland Health Promotion Programme.This marked the start of the athletes’ preparation for their trip to the Special Olympics World Winter Games. Our Health Promotion Programme is a health education programme developed with, and for, Special Olympics athletes to empower them to adopt healthier lifestyles. Athletes from Team Ireland are learning about healthy eating, meal planning, meal preparation and how to fuel their bodies for sport and competition. 125 athletes across the island of Ireland also focused on their health this October by taking part in the European Week of Sport. Special Olympics Ireland reached Athletes across three online events that sought to promote a healthy lifestyle today, tomorrow, and every day! A number of clubs even took on their own challenges and embraced the #BeActive spirit.
This quarter also saw the beginning of the SO FUN, Young Athletes™ Research Project which seeks to investigate the fundamental movement skills of children with intellectual disabilities aged four to twelve years. By participating in this research project, Special Olympics Ireland aims to identify the current levels of fundamental movement skills in Young Athletes and work with clubs, coaches, athletes, and families to ensure athletes are given opportunities to develop these skills for lifelong sport and physical activity participation.
Special Olympics Ireland celebrated its first Volunteer Awards virtually on the 16th of September. These awards were designed to give volunteers the opportunity to recognise and celebrate other volunteers. We were delighted to receive 87 nominations, with some volunteers receiving more than one nomination. An independent judging panel had the very difficult task of choosing winners in each category, recognising volunteers and celebrating their contributions to their Special Olympics communities.
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
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