BT Paralympic World Cup – Preview
The BT Paralympic World Cup is taking place in Manchester next month, from 25th-31st May. It is the world’s largest annual multi-sport elite disability event, with over 400 competitors from over 31 countries scheduled to compete. And RGK will be there exhibiting product and providing technical support to the teams.
For the first time in Paralympics Sport, the athletes will be competing for their team: GB, the Americas, Europe, and the Rest of the World. Not only will the athletes be battling for their team to win the individual sport competition, they will also be trying to score enough points across all four sports to take home the inaugural BT Paralympic World Cup Trophy.
There has also been a change to the line-up of sports with 7-A-Side Football featuring for the first time this year. Wheelchair Basketball, Swimming and Athletics continue as events for the sixth year running.
Track Cycling will not feature this year – following a review of the event and to enable other Paralympic sports to receive key competition and exposure in the build up to London 2012.
One of the world’s most recognisable Paralympic athletes, Oscar Pistorius, will be competing in this year’s event. The four-time Paralympic champion, known as "Blade Runner", will be looking to defend his 100m and 400m titles on Tuesday 25th May. Pistorius is hoping for a strong season and to lower his personal best of 46.25 seconds over 400m as he strives towards competing in both London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The GB men’s Wheelchair Basketball team, proudly sponsored by RGK, has now been selected for the event and has been described as being "powerful". GB head coach Murray Treseder said, "We have selected the best team possible from the UK. We are pleased to welcome back Dan Highcock and Ade Orogbemi to the squad who will bring aggression and drive to the team, something that we missed in Turkey last year at the European Championships. With the World Championships in Britain this year and then on to 2012, this event is more and more important".
The confirmed men’s GB team is: Joe Bestwick, Simon Brown, Terry Bywater, John Hall, Kevin Hayes, Dan Highcock, Abdi Jama, Simon Munn, Ade Orogbemi, Jon Pollock, Matt Sealy, and former RGK employee Ian Sagar. Peter Finbow, Matt Byrne, Harry Brown and Gaz Choudhry are all reserves for the team.
The team will face fierce competition from Paralympic champions Australia, who will be defending their BT Paralympic World Cup title, as well as Paralympic silver medallists Canada and European champions Italy.
Tickets for the BT Paralympic World Cup are now on sale and can be purchased via the website: www.btparalympicworldcup.com.
You can watch highlights of the World Cup on Monday 31st May on BBC2 at 2pm.
GOSH Fundraising Event – The Results!
As we have reported in previous Newsletters, Paul Smith had been aiming to push round 51 laps (20 miles) of the Emirates stadium to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital.
On Saturday 17th April, Paul arrived at the stadium in his "Wheelchair Of Dreams", loaned to him by RGK to help him achieve his goal.
The weather was sunny and breezy, and after a warm-up, Paul started his challenge at 11:30am.
He completed his first lap in 3 minutes 13 seconds, and 10 laps were completed in 33 mins 48 seconds. At 30 laps Paul’s time was 1 hour 44 mins 37 seconds, reaching lap 40 in 2 hours 20 minutes 53 seconds. Paul finally brought the "Wheelchair Of Dreams" home in a fantastic 3 hours 1 minute and 9 seconds.
Paul has never been to Great Ormond Street, in fact he doesn’t even know whereabouts in London it is - all he knows is that the best people in their medical field are there and they do all they can to help save children’s lives and hopefully allow them to live as normal life as possible when they grow up.
Donations are still coming in, but so far Paul has raised over £18,494 for GOSH which is a phenomenal amount. The money will go towards the new lung function unit at the hospital, which is scheduled to open in 2012.
RGK would like to congratulate Paul on his fantastic achievement – it has been our pleasure to help out with this most successful event that has raised so much money for such a good cause.
If you wish, you can still donate online - visit www.justgiving.com/paulforgosh
European Challenge Cup – Results
The RGK TCAT Rhinos recently took part in the European Challenge Cup in Poland. It took a lot of effort to get the Rhinos over to Poland, due to the problem caused by the volcanic ash from Iceland, but they eventually made it. The Rhinos fought it out with 7 other teams from various countries including France, Poland, Switzerland and fellow GB team Oldham Owls.
They made it to the final but were beaten by the Norrköping Dolphins from Sweden by 75-61. A very respectable second place finish for the Rhinos – well done!
The Rhinos will be travelling to Belfast on Saturday 8th May to play against the Belfast Knights for the last game of the season.
Swingaway Footrest
We are pleased to announce the addition of a swingaway footrest option on the RGK Maxima model. This new specification footrest will allow extra versatility for those users looking to be able to stand in and out of their chair.
The system is very simple in use, having no latches, locks or levers to operate; just a simple lift and rotate out to the side, and the self location in the forward position makes relocation effortless. Combined with the height and angle adjustable flip up footrest plates this new front end option is sure to be a success.
RFL Staff Give Wheelchair RL A Try!
The Rugby Football League’s Midlands Development Team recently tried their hand at Wheelchair Rugby League thanks to a session led by Wheelchair RL guru Richard Johnson and Wolverhampton Rhinos Wheelchair Rugby League Team’s Alan Caron at the Telford College of Arts & Technology.
The session included a number of warm up drills to familiarise everyone with using the wheelchairs and to introduce the rules of Wheelchair Rugby League to the group, before a full game took place.
Scores were tied 1-1 at half time, but the blue team were the eventual winners, beating the reds 12-4.
In addition to providing a good way of introducing the new team members to the group, the activity also provided a valuable insight into Wheelchair Rugby League, with none of the team having seen or experienced the sport in the past.
"I’d like to thank Richard and Alan for taking the time to give us an introduction to Wheelchair Rugby League" said Alan Robinson, Regional Development Officer in the Midlands.
"The afternoon was a great success and everyone has now had a flavour of the game and how they can involve the sport into their existing community programmes alongside other non-traditional forms of Rugby League."
The development staff in the region are looking to work to promote Wheelchair Rugby League across the region in the coming months. Anyone interested should contact Alan Robinson on alan.robinson@rfl.uk.com or 0777 5022803. You can also visit www.tryit.co.uk
If you are interested in getting involved with Wolverhampton Rhinos, contact Alan Caron: alan@wolverhamptonrhinos.com or 01543 687685 / 07879 861011.
Visit the Wolverhampton Rhinos website: www.wolverhamptonrhinos.com
RGK Online Shop – Offers for May
Why not log on to the RGK Online Shop and check out our offers for May. New offers include:
- Krypto Castors (various sizes) for only £18.00 each
Normal online price £23 each
- 24x1⅜ Kenda Knobbly Tyre for only £8.00 each
Normal online price £14.40 each
- MacWet Climatec Gloves for only £25 each
Normal online price £26.95 each
Plus offers on Hard Anodised, Stainless Steel and Titanium handrims!
May offers will begin on 1st May. And don’t forget every item sold online is at least 10% cheaper than buying over the phone with us! Visit the shop.
RGK Employee Of The Month
The RGK Employee Of The Month does not reward outstanding output or completion of duties that are within the team members normal line of work, but people who go a little bit further to help others, make something happen, have a great idea or those who have just made a real difference.
Congratulations to Paul Cooper on being nominated the Employee of the Month for March! Paul works in dispatch and benefits from an early finish on Friday. Well done!
40th Birthday Wishes!
Sean Povey, RGK’s Customer Services Manager, recently celebrated his 40th Birthday. We couldn’t let the day go by without a few celebrations so Sean’s desk area was decorated with balloons and he had to wear a number of badges and his very own specially embroidered cap all day!
Sean’s presents included a special cup warmer (he is always too busy and lets his tea get cold!) and some anti-wrinkle cream!
Happy Birthday, Sean!
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