The remarkable SportsAble story
Disability sports charity SportsAble announced it would be closing down for good last week. It had enjoyed 46 years of sporting success before the effects of the pandemic, and other financial difficulties made it difficult to keep it going. Reporter Kieran Bell took a trip down memory lane for a brief history lesson on SportsAble, which began its success at the Paralympics back in the late 1970s.
SportsAble began as WAMDSAD – the Windsor Ascot Maidenhead District Sports Association for the Disabled – 46 years ago, in 1975, starting off with just a handful of members.
Within a year of setting up, it had athletes entered into the 1976 Paralympics and every year since, sportsmen and women have had success at regional, national and Paralympic competitions.
In fact, members have represented Great Britain in Paralympic squads 49 times over the last 42 years.
“We have entered every Paralympics since we were formed,” president of the charity, John Jenkins, who competed in swimming and table tennis for Great Britain through SportsAble, said.
“We have medalled in every single one, except for one event. We have got a very colourful sporting history; a very proud history.”
In 1996, WAMDSAD won the Top Club Award for the best sports club for the disabled in the UK and the Local Sports Council Award for the best-developed club in the district.
SportsAble has gained Royal interest with visits from The Duke of Edinburgh, HRH Princess Anne, HRH the Earl of Wessex and stars including Sir Stephen Redgrave, Sir Michael Parkinson and the late Sir Terry Wogan.
The charity has also built up a strong reputation over the years and was one of the chosen training grounds for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London.
Despite its success at international levels, SportsAble prided itself on helping people at grassroots level, and worked with places like schools to offer disabled people the chance to develop their sporting ability.
And during the second COVID-19 lockdown, the charity kept its members engaged by holding online fitness sessions, which were also used as a way of combating isolation.
Several notable events have been held at the SportsAble clubhouse, including an annual Christmas meal for elderly people, which is traditionally visited by Maidenhead MP Theresa May.
Archery sessions; ‘have a go’ events and family fun days have also been added to the fundraising calendar in recent years.
In addition, SportsAble has appeared at the Advertiser’s Cracker Challenge, which raises funds for good causes in the area.