Student-Led Volunteering (SLV) took some time to say hey to their friends in the Special Olympics Plymouth and District during lockdown 2.0, updating them on how they are and wishing them safe. Cara, the Project Lead tells us more...
The video included current and past students who attended Special Olympics throughout my last two years as Project Leader. It was amazing to see that even though we haven’t participated physically at Special Olympics since March, that the volunteers were still super keen to take part. It is the most special place and this is my fourth year being involved (and my third as project leader).
Special Olympics is a weekly sports club for people with intellectual and physical disabilities. Some come to practice in order to compete in national games, and others come to just chat and have a weekly gossip. The social space is so essential for the athletes to feel included within a community, for many do not have the chance to socialise otherwise.
As you all know the lockdown is going on for another 3 weeks . So we can’t start back to club yet . Keep safe and try to keep active remember we have the National Games in Liverpool 2021to look forward to !
Posted by Special Olympics Plymouth & District on Tuesday, 14 April 2020
One of the most rewarding aspects of Special Olympics is the relationships formed between the athletes and the volunteers, to be welcomed each week with a smile and know that they look forward to seeing you as much as we look forward to attending. For the past three years, Special Olympics has been my favourite part of my week, every week, and this is mirrored in the experiences of the volunteers too. As well as relationships, it is so fantastic to see personal development that the athletes make within themselves: those who were shy are now outgoing, those who didn’t feel comfortable communicating now laugh with you, those who had never been included in sports now tackle you in football.
As for Christmas and lockdown 2.0, there isn’t much we can do with regards to physical activity. However, we will be using videos for the athletes can see, for them to see a familiar face. For now, it’s just to keep the athletes hopeful and remind them that they haven’t been forgotten. Special Olympics is a family, and one which they haven’t been a part of for a long time throughout lockdown, we just want to remind them that we are still here.
If and when Special Olympics can begin again, we run on a Wednesday evening at 5:30pm-8pm and would love to have some more volunteers for this worthy cause.