THE GOAL:

2012 is an Olympic year, and one of the goals of the London Olympics is to encourage greater participation in sport. This includes everyone, SPORT FOR ALL! We want to kick-start a new 'Boccia/disability' club in Chichester and raise money/awareness for EFDS and disability sport in the UK.

THE CHALLENGE:

An Olympic year calls for an Olympic challenge, to capture the imagination, well we think this does!

On Thurs 30th August, the start of the Paralympics, Ben and Ali will set off from the mainland and swim 1.5miles across the Solent to the Isle of Wight. They will then cycle 70miles all way around the island. Finally, they will kayak the 1.5miles back to the mainland, all in one day!

THE CHARITY:

We are doing this in aid of The English Federation of Disability Sport. This is a relatively small grass roots charity, which helps set up local sports projects. It is the national body responsible for developing sport for disabled people in England.

The initial inspiration for this challenge came from a young girl who has Cerebral Palsy and had recently joined the local gym where Ben also works part-time as an instructor. Whilst helping her to train she mentioned how she also enjoyed playing a game called ‘Boccia’, which to be honest he hadn’t heard of. She explained how she currently has to travel from Chichester to Brighton by herself just to play for an hour, as there is nowhere nearer to play. She is also currently studying at university, works part-time and volunteers, so thought this was a big commitment considering everything else she has going on.

Ben did some research finding out about the sport, including that it is in fact a Paralympic sport. After contacting Boccia England UK he was told the basic equipment and space required was actually quite minimal and not overly expensive. So the idea was born to do a sponsored event in order to raise the necessary money to buy the equipment and help kick-start a new small local Boccia club.

Once deciding upon the challenge and enrolling Ali to take part, we also decided to enlist the help and support of a suitable charity. We looked for one that whilst national, would also be able to help our community personally and not just swallow the money up into a big pot where we wouldn’t see any noticeable local benefit. When we found and contacted EFDS, it was clear they were the perfect charity for this event, a grass roots charity, with national links, which helps set up small local projects like this.

All we need to do now is raise the money, and hopefully complete the challenge……………so please dig deep to help support us and our local cause.

Many thanks Ben and Ali.

ALL sponsors will be put into a raffle to win various prizes, for more information please visit our website at: www.iow-olympic-challenge.co.uk