Big hearted volunteers from National Grid handed over a cheque for £1,000 at the Special Olympics Great Britain (SOGB) Greater London Swimming Gala.

Over 30 volunteers from National Grid helped out as nearly 80 swimmers competed in the event at Fulham Pools on Sunday (January 18).

Retired swimming star Adrian Moorhouse MBE, who won a gold medal for the 100m breaststroke at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, put in a special guest appearance at the event.

SOGB provides sporting opportunities for those with learning disabilities, and gala competitors came from near and far, including St Albans, Hammersmith, Fulham and Cheshire.

National Grid’s team of volunteers helped out with timekeeping, lane assistance, marshalling, chaperoning and awards presentation at the event.

The gala provided a good opportunity for the swimmers to prepare for the SOGB National Summer Games which take place in July.

The £1,000 was raised through sales of a cookery book of employee recipes compiled by National Grid’s Inclusion & Diversity network.  The donation was handed over by I&D team member Niru Popat who works at the company’s Slough office.  Niru said: “The gala was great – I’ve really enjoyed my day volunteering with Special Olympics.  I’ll certainly be signing up for more of this through the National Grid partnership.”

The funds represented a welcome boost for the Greater London Region SOGB, which is struggling to raise enough money to send their swimming team to compete.

Dave Balmer, chairman of the Greater London Region SOGB, said: “I spoke to a couple of the groups from outside London, in particular the Cheshire group who had travelled some considerable distance to be with us on Sunday.

“They were full of praise for the competition and this was due in no small part to the assistance of all the National Grid volunteers – three cheers for all!”

In 2007 National Grid became the first ever official partner of the SOGB.  Employees help out with SOGB events and at the network of over 200 SOGB clubs which offer opportunities to participate in sport every day.

ENDS 

For further media enquiries contact Antony Quarrell, National Grid Communications on
07810 853075

National Grid
National Grid is an international electricity and gas company and one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world. We play a vital role in delivering gas and electricity to millions of people across Great Britain and northeastern US in an efficient, reliable and safe manner. We believe the power of action can play a major role in safeguarding our global environment for future generations and tackling the effects of climate change, providing all our customers with the highest standards of service through network investment and through our talented, diverse workforce.

National Grid owns the high-voltage electricity transmission network in England and Wales and operates the system across Great Britain. It also owns and operates the high pressure gas transmission system in Britain and its distribution business delivers gas to 11 million homes and businesses.

National Grid manages the National Gas Emergency Service freephone line 0800 111 999*.  

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Special Olympics Great Britain
Special Olympics Great Britain (SOGB) specialises in providing year-round sports training and competition in 24 Olympic-type sports, both summer and winter, for learning disabled children and adults from age 8 to 80.

Founded as part of the global Special Olympics movement in 1978, SOGB currently serves more than 8,000 athletes at local, regional, national and international levels. National Summer Games are held every 4 years.

SOGB is a registered charity supported by individual and corporate donations. It receives no government funding. National Grid is SOGB’s first Official Partner. 

One of the guiding principles of Special Olympics is that anyone, with encouragement, support and access to resources, can be provided with a positive sporting experience, raising their self-esteem and the expectations of the community around them. SOGB seeks to focus on ability not disability.
 
Special Olympics and Paralympics are two separate organisations. Special Olympics provides year-round sports and training opportunities for all learning disability levels. Paralympics provides elite-only level sports competition for multi-disabled groups including physical, blind and deaf.

www.sogb.org.uk

For more information on the summer games go to www.leicester.gov.uk/specialolympics