Corbel helps Rio Paralympians and Olympic legend raise money for the next generation

Suffolk’s three Rio 2016 Paralympic athletes joined former British, Commonwealth, European and World Champion athlete Derek Redmond to raise money to support the next generation of athletes from Suffolk.

Just a few days after stepping off the plane from Rio, Zoe Newson, Ryan Crouch and Evie Edwards all attended the latest Ipswich Sporting Lunch Club event at Wherstead Park near Ipswich.

The Club was set up in January 2015 to raise money for SportsAid, the national charity for sports people, to enable them to support more talented up and coming athletes from Suffolk. SportsAid works with the governing bodies of 75 sporting disciplines, to ensure the right athletes get financial support and recognition at the right time.

The Club is supported by seven businesses from the Ipswich area – Pound Gates Chartered Insurance Brokers, Ensors Chartered Accountants, Handelsbanken, Ellisons Solicitors, Corbel, StrategiQ and Picasso HR.

The event saw Caleb Fuller (17) presented with a funding award by Derek Redmond after having been identified by Basketball England as a rising star of the basketball world. Fuller, from Ipswich, has played for England since he was 14, including representing them at the European Championships at Under 16 level. He has once again been chosen to train with England with a view to representing the under 18 men’s team at the European Championships in 2017. Commenting after receiving the grant he said “I’m very grateful to SportsAid and the businesses behind the Ipswich Sporting Lunch Club for supporting me. It’s a privilege to be recognised in this way and the funding is a massive boost.”

Andy Smith from StrategiQ said “I’m sure I speak for all the businesses involved with the Ipswich Sporting Lunch Club when I say that we are proud to do our bit for the next generation of sporting heroes from Suffolk.  People like Caleb are wonderful role models. We wish him well for the future and will follow his progress with interest.”

All 3 Suffolk Paralympians attending the event are past recipients of SportsAid support. Zoe Newson, who won a bronze medal in Rio said “SportsAid in Suffolk has played such a huge part in helping me as an athlete. Not only have they provided invaluable financial support at critical times in my career but they have also shown real belief in me as an athlete. I will always be very grateful to them.”

The next Ipswich Sporting Lunch event will take place on 24th February 2017 when the guest speaker will be none other than Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards.

Ipswich Sporting Lunch Club Founding Businesses:
1.    Pound Gates Chartered Insurance Brokers are a risk management and insurance broking organisation providing tailored risk solutions for businesses.
2.    Picasso HR is a dedicated HR outsourcing consultancy providing bespoke services to its clients on either a retainer or consultancy basis.
3.    Ensors Chartered Accountants is one of East Anglia’s largest and most respected firms of independent chartered accountants and business advisors.
4.    Handelsbanken is a full-service bank with a decentralised way of working, a strong local presence due to a nationwide network of over 190 branches and a long-term approach to customer relations.
5.    Ellisons Solicitors is one of the East of England’s oldest established legal practices.  They act for a diverse range of business and individual clients, charitable organisations, public authorities and corporate institutions.
6.    Corbel provides a comprehensive range of IT services that range from the installation of Infrastructure Solutions (both physical and virtual), to Hosting, Disaster Recovery, Telephony Solutions and Technical Support Contracts.
7.    StrategiQ is a full service marketing agency based in Ipswich. Creative services include: brand building, content marketing, web design and development, consultancy, video and photography, search marketing (paid and organic), social media, graphic design, PR, email marketing and print advertising.

SportsAid – Supporting the sports stars of tomorrow today
Before they become a household name, an elite sportsman or woman will spend 100,000 hours and thousands of pounds pursuing their dream. Many are forced out long before it comes true.

SportsAid makes it possible for young athletes to pursue their dreams, so that – like 18-year-old Steve Redgrave in 1980 and 13-year-old Kelly Holmes in 1983 – they can one day go on to inspire a nation.

At London 2012, almost two-thirds of the British team were former recipients of SportsAid’s support, winning 20 Olympic and 27 Paralympic gold medals between them. For many, SportsAid were their only means of support at a crucial, early time in their career, before other sources of funding are available. SportsAid continues to work with the governing bodies of 50 disciplines to ensure the right athletes receive support.

Suffolk SportsAid
Suffolk SportsAid was established in 2007 as a legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, to support individuals with cash awards in the defining early years of their careers.  Since it was launched the Foundation has made in excess of 200 grants to talented athletes from Suffolk distributing over £160,000.  The Foundation is proud to have supported six of Suffolk’s London 2012 participants including both medallists (boxer Anthony Ogogo and powerlifter Zoe Newson) and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games medallists Chris Walker-Hebborn and Harry Martin.