Members of Team Special Olympics Great Britain were invited by the Prime Minister to a celebratory Garden Party at 10 Downing Street in recognition of the fantastic achievement of athletes and the support of its devoted volunteers at the Berlin 2023 Special Olympics World Games.

Team Special Olympics GB athletes won a haul of 137 medals and 47 ribbons at Berlin 2023. More than half of the athletes who competed were joined by volunteers, support staff, corporate partners families and supporters for a garden party celebration.

The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said: “The strength and ability of these athletes is inspiring, and I am proud that No.10 hosted Team GB as we celebrate their incredible success at the recent Special Olympics World Games in Berlin.

“Sport is one of the best ways to bring people together – breaking down barriers to opportunity, building relationships and growing confidence – and the work of the Special Olympics Committee and Special Olympics GB is making a huge difference.”

With more than 7,000 international athletes with intellectual disabilities having competed over the nine days of competition, the Special Olympics World Games is the biggest inclusive sporting event of 2023. Team Special Olympics GB athletes participated in 17 of the 26 sporting competitions that were staged across the city during June.

Laura Baxter MBE, Strategic Director of Growth & Legacy at Special Olympics GB, said: “Being invited to 10 Downing Street is a fantastic gesture by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and demonstrates just how highly valued our athletes’ achievements are across the country.

“Each athlete has overcome adversity to represent their nation on the world stage and they have made memories that will last a lifetime. As well as helping these Team Special Olympics GB athletes build on this experience, we want to use the power of sport to support many more children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

“There are currently 94 sporting clubs accredited to Special Olympics GB across England, Scotland and Wales and, with the support of our volunteers, we want to grow this number further and provide many more opportunities for people to participate.”

Special Olympics GB is the UK’s largest provider of year-round sports training and competition for children and adults of all abilities with intellectual disabilities. More than 6,600 athletes are currently registered and are participating its accredited programmes, which are delivered by a devoted team of around 3,800 volunteers. 

Special Olympics Suffolk’s partner organisation, ActivLives, held their inaugural Inclusive Boccia Tournament recently at the Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre, in Stowmarket. The event was a tremendous success with 47 competitors, playing a total of 129 ends of boccia, over 44 matches. There were over 90 people attending the event, during the course of the day.

“Boccia (pronounced ‘botcha’), is a truly inclusive sport”, said Mike McCarthy, from ActivLives. “It is a target game, played with balls, where all of the participants are required to sit down when they play. It is one of those sports that is relatively easy to play, but very difficult to play well. The sport is particularly suitable for players with a disability and has been on the Paralympic programme since 1984”.  

The tournament in Stowmarket consisted of four divisions, where players competed either in pairs or teams of three, in a round-robin format. Three of the four divisions were specifically for athletes with an intellectual (learning) disability. The day concluded with a ‘spider decider’ mass team event, with all 47 players involved.

“The response to today’s event has been absolutely brilliant. It is great to see so many people getting involved with the sport of boccia in this part of our county”, said Mike.

Many thanks to the brilliant team of volunteers and also to our other supporting partners Special Olympics GB, Boccia England, Everyone Active and Active Suffolk.

If you would like to find out more about getting involved with boccia in the Stowmarket, Ipswich or Felixstowe areas, please call ActivLives on 01473 345350 or email mike@activlives.org.uk  

The Mayflower Games were held in Plymouth in June, at the excellent Plymouth Life Centre. This was a multi-sport event organised by the Mayflower Specials Club. SO Suffolk was represented by Cameron Sherman in the badminton events. A great performance saw Cameron win a bronze medal, in a very competitive men’s singles competition, and silver in the men’s doubles event.

Well done Cam!