Southern Clubs
England
Scotland
Wales
Welcome to Special Olympics Southern Region
Please see menu to the right for list of clubs local to this region. 
Regional Chair: Chris Jones
Tel: 02392 261 318
Email: cjandmj@sky.com
Regional Secretary: Cath Alderman
Email: hon-secretary@sogb-southern.org.uk
COMPETITION ENTRY FORMS - Please click link below to Download
Regional Athletics Competition - 05 September 2010
Table Tennis (Single) Competition - 10 October 2010
PRESS CLIPPINGS
NEWS
Special Olympics Great Britain Celebrates the Spirit of Volunteering
2009 Volunteer of the Year Awards at the House of Commons
Southern Region Winners: Andrew Haslam and Mohammed Kennou
Tuesday, 9 February, 2010 -- Special Olympics Great Britain (SOGB) is pleased to announce the winners of their annual 2009 Volunteer of the Year Awards. The awards, hosted by Baroness Taylor at the House of Commons and supported by SOGB’s Official Partner National Grid, recognised the outstanding contributions of the 2600 volunteers who support the 19 Regions and 135 groups of SOGB’s programme which provides year-round sports training and competition for all people with learning disabilities.
Honoured guests included: SOGB Chairman Lawrie McMenemy, MBE, Minister for Sport, Gerry Sutcliffe, MP, Shadow Minister for Sport, Hugh Robertson, MP, SOGB Ambassadors Olympic canoeist Anna Hemmings, MBE, extreme kayaker Shaun Baker, and polar explorer/Board Member Rosie Stancer.
Andrew Haslam of Maidenhead won the 2009 Young Volunteer Award presented by George Mayhew, Global Director of Corporate Affairs for National Grid. Mohammed Kennou, also of Maidenhead, won the 2009 Newcomer Award presented by Maidenhead resident, SOGB Ambassador and extreme kayaker Shaun Baker. Both Andrew and Mohammed volunteer with the Electric Eels swimming club for people with Downs Syndrome.
Andrew, who is now 17 years old, never misses a training session and has recently earned an ASA Level 1 teaching qualification and has attended the SOGB induction day as well as child protection and First Aid classes. He is also responsible for setting-up and maintaining the club’s website and newsletter. Whether teaching from poolside, in the water, or helping at social events, he is a credit to the club. He has a brother with Downs Syndrome.
 |
 |
| Shaun Baker (left) with Mohammed Kennou |
George Mayhew (left) with Andrew Haslam |
Mohammed is 18 years old and started volunteering when the Electric Eels first started. His maturity and patience have made him popular with even the most demanding athletes and he is the first one to offer to help when needed. Above and beyond his regular attendance at all the training sessions, he also took additional time on the weekends to achieve his Level 1 coaching award and First Aid award. He is a quiet happy young man loved by everyone at the club.
The winners were chosen by the judges based on their commitment, passion and participation: Athlete Volunteer: Fleur Donohue (West Midlands), Young Volunteer: Andrew Haslam (Southern), Newcomer: Mohammed Kennou (Southern), Corporate: Martina Smith/National Grid (East Midlands), Corporate/Highly Commended: Dave Henderson/National Grid (West Midlands), Sports Coach: Liam DeVanney (South Eastern), Outstanding Contribution: Janet Nolan (Yorkshire & Humberside) and Outstanding Contribution/Highly Commended: Elaine Daykin (West Midlands).
According to Karen Wallin, SOGB CEO, “Volunteers ensure our unique sports programme takes place on a day to day basis. Whether as a coach, mentor, driver or kit washer, without their support there would be no Special Olympics. It’s great that they can be recognised for their tremendous efforts through our Volunteer Awards.”
The judges for the awards were: AD Durnin, Volunteer Director 2009 SOGB National Summer Games, Leicester; Jay Popat, National Development Officer Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball; Andrew Allen, Lead Coordinator for Learning Disability Lions Clubs International (MD105); Greg Sylvester, Special Olympics GB Athlete and Coach; Mark Pickles, Shared Services Business Change Manager National Grid and part of National Grid Mentoring Scheme.
As part of National Grid’s partnership with the charity, employees go the extra mile and show that CSR is not just an acronym by volunteering their time throughout the year. Over 560 employees have given more than 3,175 hours in company time and 5,466 hours in their own time. In this day and age of volunteerism and corporate responsibility, National Grid is lighting the way.
According to Gaye Barber, National Volunteer Manager, “Our volunteers drive our programme – it’s their energy and passion that fuels everything we do.” By 2012, SOGB hopes to double their volunteer work force. For information on volunteering for Special Olympics Great Britain: gaye.barber@sogb.org.uk
Our sailors flourish at the National Summer Games in Rutland
Friday, 31st July 2009 - Special Olympic Sailors who normally sail at London’s Docklands had an excellent three day, twenty race regatta at Rutland Sailing Club, despite the treacherous weather conditions of 20 knots gusting over to 30 on Tuesday 28th July. The regatta was part of the Special Olympics GB National Summer Games sailing competition.
Principal Race Officer, Club Member and Olympic Silver Medallist. David Wilkins said “We had plenty of safety cover, and the competitors were handling the conditions well and enjoying themselves, so we let them finish and then brought them in.”
Joanne Shepherd, Michael Kennet’s colleague agreed with him in saying that “Tuesday was rough but I really enjoyed it.” As well as the weather conditions, the sailors had to get used to the unfamiliar three-quarter tonne National Squib keelboats belonging to the sailing club which are different to the dinghies they are used to. The Fleet owners were on hand with any advice to get the best out of the boats.
Special Olympic sailing competitions are organised in divisions and a total of twenty races took place over the three days. In both of these the results were very close. There was a presentation ceremony for the winners at the Sailing Club at the end of the regatta.
Britain is more successful at sailing than any other Olympic sport. Let’s hope our Special Olympic sailors continue this tradition at the next World Special Olympic Games in Athens in 2011.
Read full article:
http://rutlandsc.co.uk/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=507&Itemid=5
The results were:
Division One
| Rank |
Helm |
Crew |
| 1st |
Ian Hardwick |
Michael Whitehead |
| |
|
|
| 1st |
Michael Kennett |
Ray Stead |
| |
|
|
| 2nd |
Lee Cox |
Nic Jones |
Division Two
| Rank |
Helm |
Crew |
| 1st |
Sarah Biggs |
Robin Thompson |
| |
|
|
| 1st |
Jo Shepherd |
Theresa Haddock |
| |
|
|
| 2nd |
John Hollingsworth |
John Shepherd |