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Liverpool's
Olympians and Paralympians celebrated
LIVERPOOL'S Olympic heroes
are to be honoured at a special civic celebration on Friday.
Out of around 800 athletes who made up Team GB, 33 were either from
Liverpool, or trained in the city. To officially recognise their
outstanding contribution to the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics,
Liverpool's Lord Mayor, Councillor Sharon Sullivan, will host a
civic reception at 3pm on Friday, 21 September 2012, at the Town Hall.
Those expected to be attending include bronze Olympic medallist Beth Tweddle and fellow gymnast Hannah Whelan who both train at Park Road
Lifestyles gym in Toxteth, and Natasha Jonas who made history when
she became the first ever British female boxer to compete at an
Olympic Games. Joining them will be paralympians David Devine
(athletics), Lora Turnham (cycling) and Dan Highcock (wheelchair
basket ball).
Each of the sporting stars will receive a scroll recognising their
participation in the Games and will be formally thanked by the Lord
Mayor for being inspirational ambassadors for the City.
Councillor Sullivan said:- "This special reception is a chance
for me to thank and congratulate these sports stars on behalf of the
city.
This has been a bumper sporting summer and for athletes from, or
connected, to Liverpool to be part of the biggest Games in the world
makes me hugely proud.
These individuals are an inspiration to us all and as a result of
their outstanding achievements, I am sure they have encouraged a
huge number of people, young and old, to get active which is a
fantastic legacy of the Olympics and Paralympics.
It will be an honour to meet these members of Team GB and we will
give them a champions welcome they deserve." Also attending the event will be a number of up and coming Liverpool
sporting stars who hope to follow in the footsteps of their Olympic
heroes and heroines.
The City's athletes have helped to light up London 2012 as part of
the record-breaking Team GB that won 29 gold medals at the Olympics
(65 in total) and 34 gold medals at the Paralympics (120 in total).
Vitalise Sandpipers' video
celebrating Paralympics on way to going viral
A charity video celebrating
people with disabilities in the wake of the Paralympics has become
an overnight internet hit.
The uplifting video was recorded at Sandpipers, disability charity
Vitalise's respite holiday centre in Southport, and features the
disabled guests, volunteers and staff at Sandpipers singing and
dancing along to Queen's feel-good anthem:- 'Don't Stop Me
Now'.
The video also pays tribute to the inspiring achievements of Team
GB's Paralympic athletes, such as Hannah Cockroft and Jonnie
Peacock, who are featured in the video.
Vitalise made the video earlier in the year but decided to delay its
release in order to add its own tribute to Team GB's Paralympians
and also capture the wave of public attention and goodwill towards
people with disabilities in the wake of the Games.
Vitalise's Chief Executive Chris Simmonds said:- "Thanks to
the incredible achievements we witnessed at the Paralympics,
disability has never had such a high public profile. We really hope
this wave of positivity and goodwill continues. This video is our
way of saying thank you to our Paralympians, but also of celebrating
the achievements of people with disabilities in all walks of life.
Of course not all people with disabilities are Paralympians, but
they all confront their own personal hurdles. In overcoming these
obstacles they are performing their own quiet heroics, day in, day
out. This video is our salute to that indomitable spirit."
Since its release on Monday, the video has been rapidly gathering
views on YouTube and has been backed by Queen, who have featured the
video on their official website and facebook page.
Vitalise is hoping the video will go viral on YouTube, to showcase
the challenges and achievements of people with disabilities the
world over.
The charity is calling on all its supporters to share
its goodwill video message as widely as possible. The video
can be viewed on
YouTube. Vitalise is a national charity
providing essential respite breaks for people with disabilities and
carers at Sandpipers and 2 other accessible respite holiday centres
in the UK.
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Goldwings
Light up for Queens Court Hospice
THE GoldWings North West is
a club for Honda GoldWing motorcycle owners in Central Lancashire
and the surrounding areas; and this Saturday, 22 September 2012, they are
lighting up Southport in a fantastic light- parade in aid of Queens
Court Hospice in Southport.
Queens Court Hospice is dedicated to end-of-life care, working to
support patients and their families in difficult situations in the
Southport area.
The North West Goldwing Club light
parade will be leaving Pleasureland, on the Esplanade between 7.30pm
to 7.45pm, led by the Lord and Lady Mayor South along the Promenade
to Leicester Street, down onto Lord Street, then along Duke Street,
Victoria Way, Esplanade and then we will do a 2nd lap.
The parade will finish at the Prince of Wales Hotel on Lord Street
for a static light display, with judging and trophies awarded for
the best lit bikes/trikes.
Additional to this is if you
cannot make the evening display there will also be a Goldwings
static display in Chapel Street on Saturday, 23 September 2012, from 10am
to 4pm.
Organizer Jeff Thornton says:-
"Goldwings are spectacular
bikes and they raise an awful lot of attention when you ride out in
a big group – we like to use this to raise money and awareness for
local charities. The bikes look even more spectacular when they are
lit up in a variety of lights and colours. It really is something
worth seeing; we hope people will come along to Southport for a
fantastic family day out and of course to support Queens House
hospice."
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