GROWING AN ONLINE COMMUNITY OF RESPECT AND ACCEPTANCE
www.specialolympics-eu.org brings together Athletes, Volunteers and Fans of the Movement from around Europe/Eurasia
Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia (SOEE) has recently redesigned its website www.specialolympics-eu.org to bring together an online community of athletes, volunteers and fans of the movement, promoting respect, acceptance and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities.
Visitors to the site can enjoy videos, slideshows, personal stories and impactful imagery, gathered from across SOEE’s network of 58 national programmes stretching from Iceland to Israel as they provide free year-round sports training and competitions. The new site also allows the linking directly to Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia’s social media sites such as facebook, twitter as well as youtube. Visitors are given the opportunity to share and bookmark features directly from the SOEE site to their own social media sites.
An online donation facility has also been added to the site as part of SOEE’s continued efforts to secure more funding in order to reach more children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
According to Mary Davis, Managing Director of Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia: “The website redesign is timely as we approach the 2010 Special Olympics European Games in Warsaw, Poland and the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens, Greece.
“Special Olympics has a very powerful ability to unite people regardless of geographical, cultural, religious or political barriers. Our new website and social media sites will allow an army of athletes, volunteers, supporters of Special Olympics to come together to form communities of acceptance and dignity that value all human beings, including those with intellectual disabilities” added Mary Davis.
In December 2009, the European Parliament voted to provide Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia with six million euro funding from the European Commission. The much needed financial support will go toward the development of Special Olympics across the 27 EU member stats as well as assisting with the hosting of the 2010 Special Olympics European Games to be held in Warsaw, Poland and the 2010 Special Olympics World Summer Games taking place in Athens, Greece.
www.specialolympics-eu.org also profiles SOEE impactful educational and public awareness initiatives including the Healthy Athletes programme, Unified Sports® which allows people with and without disabilities to train and compete together, and the Global Football Initiative, which is using the visibility and reach of the world's most popular sport to generate greater public awareness, acceptance and respect for people with intellectual disabilities.
Contact:
Maureen Rabbitt
Communications Director, SOEE
T: +353 1 6755715 / +353 87 786 6001
E: mrabbitt@specialolympics.org