UK / Sports / DE&I

26 September 2024

On 26^th Sep. as part of the Happiness at Work Week, Mitsubishi Electric Europe UK Branch welcomed Special Olympics GB athletes for Lunch, Learn & Boccia.

Boccia is one of three Paralympic sports designed for athletes with high support needs and has no Olympic equivalent. It is a target sport played indoors with soft leather balls. Both sides have six balls - one side has red balls, the other blue balls to get your balls closer to the white target ball than your opponent.

Athletes Robbie Willimas and Matt Dodds took on our colleagues for a game of Boccia. Special Olympics St Albans volunteers then joined in to talk about their experiences in the Special Olympics GB movement. They reflected on their journey for this incredible body, a charity that supports athletes in building confidence, self-esteem and skill levels through weekly sessions in boccia, athletics, swimming and netball. Their involvement has seen St Albans-based athletes with learning disabilities enjoy great success. In 2023, five St Albans athletes representing Team GB at the World Games in Berlin where 7,000 athletes from 170 countries competed in 24 different sports.

We are honoured to support the work this incredible body that uses the power of sport to create opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities to live active, healthy and fulfilling lives.