Special Olympics GB athletes given World Games funding boost through Jingle Jam
More than 80 British athletes with intellectual disabilities, along with more than 40 volunteers, have received a huge funding boost for the Berlin 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games, thanks to a substantial donation from charity gaming event Jingle Jam.
Following its annual fundraising drive in December 2022, Jingle Jam is donating £251,416.65 to Special Olympics Great Britain.
This donation will cover the vast majority of operational costs and fundraising that is required to send the team of athletes, volunteer coaches and volunteer support and medical staff to Berlin 2023.
“We cannot thank Jingle Jam and its supporters enough,” said Colin Dyer, Chief Executive of Special Olympics GB. “The Special Olympics World Summer Games is an incredible event that gives some of our athletes the opportunity to perform on the world stage, and this support from Jingle Jam helps them to live this dream.
“There are a lot of operational costs to consider when preparing and taking a team of Special Olympics GB athletes overseas to a Special Olympics World Summer Games. Fully funding our delegation for Berlin has always been our goal and the donation from Jingle Jam gets us close. With our additional fundraising efforts, we are still working as hard as possible to try to achieve this.”
Team Special Olympics GB is taking a party of over 80 athletes to compete in 17 of the 26 sports at the Berlin 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games. Opening on Saturday 17 June at the iconic Olympiastadion Berlin, the Special Olympics World Summer Games is the biggest inclusive sporting event of the year with more than 7,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities, from 190 delegations, taking part across nine days of competition.
Rich Keith, Chair of Trustees for Jingle Jam, said: “We were delighted to raise funds for Special Olympics GB as one of our 12 charity partners in the 2022 Jingle Jam. We can’t wait to see the impact of the World Summer Games on, not only the team GB athletes we are directly supporting, but all the participants from across the world.
“The Jingle Jam exists to help make the world a better place for children and young people, and the physical and mental health of young people with disabilities is particularly important to us, so we are thrilled to support this project and wish everyone the best possible trip.”
Jingle Jam was launched by The Yogscast in 2011 and it has gone on to establish itself as the world’s biggest charity gaming event. Special Olympics GB was named as one of its 12 nominated charity partners in 2022, which raised a combined amount of £3,448,292.
The Special Olympics World Summer Games takes place every four year, with a World Winter Games operating in a similar quadrennial schedule from 2025.
Across the country, 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 6,500 athletes are currently registered and are participating at one of the 95 accredited programmes within Scotland, England and Wales, which are delivered by a devoted team of around 3,500 volunteers.
