Following the success of the 2015 Waverley Para Games event last March, Jeremy Hunt, MP for South West Surrey announced today that the date for the third Games has been confirmed for Friday 18th March 2016.
The annual event will once more take place at The Charterhouse Club in Godalming, Surrey with Paralympian Rachel Morris again supporting the event, along with International Para Dressage Rider Erin Orford.
Each year, more than 100 young SEND students (aged 11-14 years) from schools throughout Surrey have taken part in the Games and it is hoped this year’s event will attract even more athletes.
Jeremy Hunt MP said: “I am so pleased that we are in a position to run another Waverley Para Games this year thanks to the generous sponsorship of COINS Foundation and The DFN Foundation.
“This year’s event is looking like it will be even bigger, with new schools taking part from across Surrey. We also hope to be able to offer some new sports in a bid to broaden the appeal and variety on offer to young athletes. To this end, we will be liaising with sport's National Governing Bodies who are interested in developing more community groups for disability sport for young people in the area.
“We will also be working with Active Surrey again who do a great job in coordinating the event to ensure the smooth running of the Waverley Para Games on the day. Roll on more paralympic gold medalists from South West Surrey!”
Wendy Newton, Youth Sports Development Manager, Active Surrey said "We are delighted, for the third year running, to be delivering in the Waverley Para Games project, which has now been fully embedded into the Surrey School Games programme, co-ordinated by Active Surrey. Inclusive events like this enable us to reach more young people who would not otherwise have as many opportunities for competitive participation, especially those with special education needs and disabilities in mainstream schools. Feedback from the schools involved each year is hugely positive and we look forward to running another well supported event in March."
The Games will again be hosted by Charterhouse Club where facilities include a sports hall, several studios, a pool, outdoor athletics and astro pitches. The use of the venue has afforded the opportunity to further expand the Waverley Para Games breadth and reach from increasing the number of participants, diversifying the programme of sports on offer to increasing the breadth of delivery to include a more significant and specialist element of teacher training for local teachers.