Disability Sport Wales raised an amazing £1,430.00 for Special Olympics Wales, at their annual awards celebration last month. Throughout the night guests were encouraged to donate as much or little money as they wished into envelopes which were then entered into a draw to win a one night stay at The Vale Resort, with all funds raised going towards Special Olympics Wales.

Whilst one lucky individual won the big prize, the real winners were those at Special Olympics Wales who will receive huge benefits from the money donated. This year is a big year for the whole of the Special Olympics Wales team; as well as the Winter Games in March, the Welsh team are looking forward to attending the annual Regional Games which hosts 7 different sports, providing opportunities for athletes to compete at a very high level. The National Summer Games that take place in August are also a high priority, with 2600 athletes, 6000 supporters and 19 different sports heading to Sheffield for the largest multi-sport event in the UK. Athletes that are successful in the Summer Games will then qualify for the European and World Games in 2019, so the stakes are high for everyone.  The money donated will go towards ensuring the athletes receive the best level of support and the biggest opportunity to success as possible.

During the awards ceremony, hosts Sam Lloyd and Jay Lusted welcomed to the stage an incredible Special Olympics athlete Tyler Charleston, her foster father Ron Cant and Chair of Special Olympics Wales Jeff Savoury. Tyler has recently received recognition from Special Olympics GB as she has been selected to compete in the Winter Games in Austria next month. Tyler told guests how excited she is to be competing at the games. Since the awards, Tyler’s twin sister has also been selected to compete in Austria.

After the awards, Jeff Savory said “the DSW Awards evening was a great celebration of the success of Welsh disability sporting achievements in 2016. The news that it also raised £1430.00 for Special Olympics Wales is absolutely fantastic; it will most certainly help towards our fundraising to take the 200 strong team to the SOGB National Summer Games in August, where they will compete in 11 different sports. We would like to send a big thank you to DSW for their support and all that contributed on the evening.”

Thank you to all that donated, the money will be of great benefit to Special Olympics Wales and our athletes.