Panathlon’s funders spoke of their “immense pride” after witnessing our showpiece London Final at the Copper Box Arena – the climax to a competition that was only made possible by their support.
The London Final was the culmination of a whole year’s competition encompassing 16 qualifying competitions and 1,500 competitors from 30 London Boroughs. The final itself saw 200 young disabled people take part from 24 schools.
The London Final is, of course, just part of Panathlon’s multisport, swimming, football, boccia and impairment-specific competitions that take place all over England, giving over 15,000 young people every year the chance to engage in competitive sport.
Trisha Moran (pictured right), Ambassador for one of our principal sponsors, St James’s Place Charitable Foundation, said: “It makes me feel extremely humble and proud to see the children’s faces. It’s good for the teachers and children because it gives them both something to aim for together. This is their Paralympics.
“The amount of money the Foundation is giving to Panathlon now, compared to what they gave in the beginning, is because they can see its success and its future potential, and want to continue to be a part of that. That’s what they’re all about as a company.”
Jack Petchey Foundation, another of our principal sponsors, have been enormously supportive of our competitions across London and Essex.
Board director Matt Rantell (pictured left, holding certificate) commented: “Just seeing the enjoyment on the young people’s faces at being here at the Copper Box is pretty amazing. For them to stand where once these champions did is incredible for them. Sport is physically and mentally enhancing and this captures those effects perfectly for disabled young people.”
John Stubbings (top left, in the picture below) of Woodland Group added: “It makes me immensely proud to be here today. We’ve been supporting Panathlon for over seven years and to see the pleasure the young people get from competing in a team is wonderful to see.
“You can only imagine now how many families’ lives have been touched by Panathlon.The competitive element is what marks it out from the rest. There is competition in the world and not everybody can be a winner, unfortunately, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be trying and doing the best they can.”
Panathlon also thanks its ‘local’ sponsors, John Lewis Stratford City, EQ Investors, Miller Insurance and the Mayor of London for their support for all of our competitions across London and the south east.
