Date: 13/08/2012 Category: 2012 year of celebration
The Westfield Health British Transplant Games will be held in Medway for the first time in its 35-year history this summer.
One of the largest annual multi-sport events in the UK, the Games will run from Thursday, 23 to Sunday, 26 August between the end of the Olympic Games and the start of the Paralympic Games.
Organised on behalf of the charity Transplant Sport UK, the aim of the games is to encourage transplant patients to regain fitness, promote friendship and co-operation between those taking part and to increase public awareness of the value of organ donation.
The 2012 Games will take place at Medway Park in Gillingham, with sporting events also taking place across Medway and North Kent. The event will aid selection of the Great Britain team for the World Transplant Games. More than 600 recipients of a life-saving organ transplants will take taking part in sports such as athletics, swimming, rackets, golf and volleyball.
Medway Council’s Portfolio Holder for Community Services Cllr Howard Doe said: “It is very exciting to have the British transplant Games at Medway Park this summer. With the Olympics and the Paralympics in London, this is certainly an exciting year for sport and for Medway. I hope that residents support these games and this unique opportunity on our doorstep.”
Paul German, a transplant recipient and chair of the Local Sub Group for the Medway Games added: “Like me, all of the competitors taking part have received a life saving transplant and for them the games is not only a celebration of life, but also a way of saying ‘thank you’ to the donor families for their generosity.
"Although exciting to watch, all of the athletes compete in a spirit of ‘shared experience’, never forgetting that one of the main aims of the BTG is to encourage more people to ‘carry the card’ and sign up to the organ donor register. So please come and support the games – you will be amazed by what you see."
Medway Council is signing up Medway Sports Ambassadors to help with the event. To find out more or to register your interest email sportsdevteam@medway.gov.uk or call 01634 338764.
ENDS
Notes for Editors
For media accrediation to the British Transplant Games please contact:
Kirstie Kinrade
HR Media Ltd
Phone: 0114 252 7768
Mobile: 0773 052 7278
Email: kirstie@hrmedia.org.uk
History of the Games
The Games were inaugurated in 1978 in Portsmouth by Maurice Slapak, who at the time was a Consultant Transplant Surgeon. Approximately 100 participants took part in the first Games in a one-day event.
Over the past 30 years, the British Transplant Games have grown to a four-day annual event for more than 600 competitors and nearly 1,000 supporters.
The Games have been staged annually since 1978 in a number of host cities including Portsmouth, Newcastle, Cardiff, Birmingham, Exeter, Liverpool, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Leicester, London, Manchester, Sheffield and Norwich, Loughborough, Bath and Coventry.
The British Transplant Games incorporate a wide variety of sporting and leisure activities for all age groups. The Games take place over four days in the summer and from these Games a team is selected to represent Great Britain in the World Transplant Games.
The aim of The Games is to encourage transplant patients to regain fitness and to promote friendship and co-operation between individuals concerned with transplantation, while increasing public awareness of the value of organ donation.
About Transplant Sport UK
Transplant Sport UK is a registered charity whose main aim is to raise awareness of the need for organ donation in the UK and worldwide.
Through organising sports and social events for transplant recipients it demonstrates the benefits of organ donation and proves that people can lead a normal and active life again after transplantation.
Founded as a result of the first Transplant Olympics held in Portsmouth in 1978, TSUK has a varied membership throughout the UK, all having received the life-saving gift of a major organ. It welcomes the families, donors and donor families to join its association and to support its transplant athletes at the various sporting events it organises throughout the year.
TSUK is dependant upon sponsorship and donation to fund the administration and running of the association. Its appointed trustees and management committee are all volunteers.