Special Olympics Suffolk hosted their Special Olympics Regional Athletics Competition on a sun soaked day at the Abbeycroft Leisure Centre track in Bury St Edmunds, an excellent venue which, combined with the continued summer sunny weather led to some top performances from the seven teams taking part. In addition to Special Olympics Suffolk, teams such as St Albans, Peterborough and Norfolk came from across the region and from further afield athletes travelled from London, Yorkshire and the West Midlands

Suffolk athletes came away with 9 Golds, 4 Silver and 6 Bronze with many others securing top 8 positions across a range of running, jumping and throwing events giving their large support plenty to be excited about. In total over 100 athletes took part in what was the biggest Special Olympics Athletics Competition in Suffolk to date. Spurred on by the success of the Special Olympics Suffolk gymnasts taking part in the Special Olympics International World Games in Berlin last week, the Special Olympics Suffolk athletes are looking forward to the Special Olympics Great Britain National Summer Games in a couple of years

Following on from last year’s success in the Suffolk Community Games in running alongside the Suffolk Quadkids competition, the event was again an excellent example of inclusion involving disabled and non-disabled athletes. All this was only made possible through the contribution of a team of officials who volunteered their time and skills. The Suffolk team is co-ordinated by Orwell Panthers Athletics club which trains at Northgate Sports Centre in Ipswich on Wednesday evenings throughout the year.

For further information please contact Terry McEntee on terrymcentee474@gmail.com

Special Olympics Suffolk member Ed Boggis and his Personal Assistant, Lizzie Reid and Mike McCarthy, coach from ActivLives badminton club travelled to Berlin recently to join 20,000 volunteers from around the world to help at the Special Olympics World Games.

Coaches, judges, officials and volunteers play a vital part of the overall event management and Ed, Lizzie and Mike had important jobs to do to ensure the smooth running of the games. They had a great time meeting other volunteers and competitors from 170 countries, experiencing a whole range of sports and also enjoyed the vibrant atmosphere of the Olympic village.

Massive congratulations to Jack, Grace and Simon from Waveney Gymnastics Club in Lowestoft and Special Olympics Suffolk who smashed all of their disciplines in the finals of the gymnastics competition yesterday. Jack and Grace were overall winners gaining Gold medals a-piece and Simon came second overall gaining Silver. In addition, all gymnasts came away with a clutch of medals from each discipline – massive congratulations to the dynamic trio who represented both Great Britain and Suffolk in Berlin. All three were impeccable in their sportsmanship at the games and we are all very proud of them!

SOGB coaches Ellen and Alex (also from Special Olympics Suffolk and Waveney Gymnastics Club) supported the team throughout and were delighted at the team and individual performances. Huge thanks to both for their devotion, passion and dedication to the sport and the gymnasts.

Special Olympics Suffolk were invited by Special Olympics Norwich for a local derby on 14^th May 2023 at the UEA sports complex.

Everyone had a great day and were happy to meet old friends from past events. 

This email has been sent to all Special Olympics GB members   

Hi everyone, 

Hoping this reaches you very well. 

As you may be aware, following the launch of our 2021 strategy Inclusion in Action, we introduced new Working Groups as a way to ensure our membership voice is heard across all key areas of the organisation.  

Our Network Structure Working Group launched at the end of 2022 has been working on building a plan for how we evolve and innovate our structure and foundations.  

Now, we are very pleased to announce the launch of the first stage of research for the Special Olympics GB Network Structure Working group: 

Network Structure Survey  

supported by Corporate Partner TwoCircles 

Click HERE to access the online survey. 

WATCH the video (below) describing the objectives of this consultation and how we plan on using your valuable insights.

You can also click HERE (scroll to Network Structure Survey Toolkit) to access our Survey Toolkit, which includes:

• the survey link
• the survey brief (plus an Easy-Read version)
• a FAQ document
• glossary and guidance
• a printable QR code.

By completing our survey, you will be in the chance of winning: 

1. England replica shirt signed by Special Olympics GB Principal Ambassador Jack Grealish
2. £25 Amazon Voucher (5 AVAILABLE) 

The winners will be selected at random from completed entries.  

The survey should take about 10-15 minutes and does have to completed in one sitting. 

The survey closes on Friday 30^th June, so get going! 

Be in touch with us if you have any questions. 

Many thanks, 

Emma & Network Structure Working Group

Our fabulous gymnasts from Special Olympics Suffolk will head off to the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin from Waveney Gymnastics Club very soon. As you can see, they are all kitted out and proud to be representing Great Britain.

We will be updating you on their progress every step of the way!