Foundation & Birmingham Bears play badminton for '2012' mins
VOLUNTEERS from The Albion Foundation and Birmingham Bears Badminton Club completed ‘2012’ consecutive minutes of badminton in aid of charity this weekend.
It is hoped their 33 hour-plus Olympic-inspired marathon will raise over £2,500 for The Albion Foundation’s disability projects and Birmingham Bears’ nominated charity ‘Tiny Babies, Big Appeal’.
The event took place at Albion’s Barclays Spaces for Sports Community Sports Hall on Halfords Lane, where play started at 7am on Saturday and came to a conclusion at 4.32pm on Sunday.
Albion Foundation Director Rob Lake, who was involved for the duration, said: “It was a fantastic effort by everyone at the Foundation and the Birmingham Bears.
“It was a massive help having people drop in during the day to have a game and support us.
“We had around 25 staff from the Foundation, 25 members of Birmingham Bears Badminton Club and 40 Sporting Club Albion players taking part through the event.
“We also had staff’s families coming down for a game and it created a brilliant atmosphere which kept us all going.
“I must say a special thank you to the two staff that did the night shift, Rich Holmes and Tracey Jones as this was the toughest time staying awake during the night.
“Rich went on and did a full 24 hours which was a superb effort.
“The most important thing however is the funds we have raised for the disability project and Tiny Babies Appeal.
Half of the money raised will directly benefit The Albion Foundation’s ‘One Albion’ and ‘Sporting Club Albion’ disability programmes.
Foundation staff work with children with disabilities and learning difficulties to offer them sporting opportunities and then develop their interest and participation through a number of out-of-school hours programmes,
which can lead to them representing one of the Sporting Club Albion teams.
Sporting Club Albion has teams competing in the following categories: blind, visually impaired, powerchair (two teams) and pan-disability (senior & junior).
Sporting Club Albion’s very own blind football star, Darren Harris, represented Team GB at the 2012 Paralympics in London. They also boast two powerchair England internationals, Chris Gordon and Danny Kay.
As well as sporting opportunities, The Albion Foundation provides mentoring and education programmes and a disability awareness programme for mainstream schools.
The other half of the funds will benefit ‘Tiny Babies, Big Appeal’, which is being run by the Birmingham Women’s NHS Foundation Trust and aims to raise £2milion to help build a new neonatal unit at Birmingham
Women’s Hospital.
For further information about The Albion Foundation, or to make a donation, click here. You can also post a cheque, made payable to ‘The Albion Foundation’, to 2012 Badminton Appeal, The Albion Foundation Building, Halfords Lane, West Bromwich B71 4LG. Alternatively, call The Albion Foundation on 0871 271 9840 and make a donation via your credit/debit card.
For further information about ‘Tiny Babies, Big Appeal’, click here. To make a donation, click here.