Wheelchair rugby is an exciting new sport for young people. It’s a great opportunity to socialise and get active. The incredible sport of wheelchair rugby has the power to be positively life changing. We need your support to change more lives!
We want to offer the opportunity for more young people to experience the excitement of taking part in wheelchair rugby. With your support we can make a difference to their lives.
With your pledges we can commission our specialist chair manufacturers, ROMA Sport, to build the chairs they need. The specialist chairs built ‘competition ready’ and specifically for young people cost £2,000 each.
60 young participants will use the 15 new chairs for the first time at the inaugural BT Wheelchair Rugby Youth Tournament on 11th October 2015 at the Copper Box Arena, Queen Elizabeth Park, Stratford, London. The tournament will mark the start of the GBWR youth programme working with communities in Manchester, East London and Brighton. More cities will benefit as part of our rolling 3 year plan.
Let’s pledge our support to the Right Chair, Right Time Right Now campaign!
Since May 2015, with fantastic support from our current crowd including BT, Sport England, Greater London Authority, ROMA Sport, Harlequins Foundation, Saracens Sport Foundation, Gloucestershire Rugby, London Sport, and Hounslow Council, we have created opportunities for 60 young people to play wheelchair rugby on a weekly basis.
Libbi with GBWR coach Jinx, ‘Wales Coach to the Disabled’
Tom began playing wheelchair rugby at 6 years of age, a year after he suffered a spinal injury. He says that playing wheelchair rugby has given him loads of confidence and his friends think it’s cool! He’s become the youngest ever voluntary wheelchair trainer for the charity Backup.
Tom says
“It’s really exciting to play. It looks tougher than it is to take a ‘hit’ in the chair but they are specially designed to take the impact. It’s like a super safe bumper car! You can really pick up speed and it’s great fun when you weave through the opponents and bounce off them towards the goal.”
What’s next for Tom?
I’m training hard and would love to get into the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo.
Kyran has cerebral palsy and had been looking for an activity for a long time. He was inactive and putting on weight but then saw wheelchair rugby on TV.
Kyran says
” Wheelchair rugby has given me a different outlook, I’ve lost loads of weight and am much fitter, instead of watching TV I have something to aim for and look forward to training at the weekends.
What’s next for Kyran?
Kyran is looking forward to playing in his first competitive Tournament on 11th October at the Olympic Legacy venue, The Copper Box Arena, London.
In a year where we place rugby on the highest platform possible, we are keen to enable those who have not had the opportunities in the traditional game to still engage with the sport, through their participation in wheelchair rugby. Pledges of just £5 upwards are welcomed with incredible ‘can’t buy’ rewards as a thank you for your backing!