Panathlon.

GB Paralympian Anne Wafula Strike visits Panathlon in Braintree

26 Apr 2012

Anne Wafula Strike, GB Paralympian and 2012 hopeful visited Panathlon today at Braintree College in Essex to witness the North Semi Final. 100 disabled young people competed in 6 sports and this is what she had to say -

" It is a privilege to be here today and see all these fantastic sports and all the children having a great day. Its great to see young people of different abilities competing and enjoying themselves so much. Panathlon provides an opportunity to enjoy sport and to meet new friends and have new experiences. Sport is for everybody - and its great to see young disabled people so fired up and raring to compete.I strongly believe sport is a universal language- that we can all speak, given the opportunity. Thank you Panathlon for providing us all with this opportunity."

This story is courtesy of www.panathlon.com

London Calling

'the2012' target smashed as the Olympics inspires 2,700 young people to sign up as community volunteers

The Bishop of London and Team GB hopeful, Anne Wafula Strike, commission "the2012" at St Paul's Cathedral

25/04/12

St Paul's Cathedral was filled to overflowing last night as the members of "the2012" collective, a Diocese of London initiative aimed at mobilising a group of 2,012 young people to volunteer and serve during the Olympics, were formally commissioned as Ambassadors by the Bishop of London.

As they assembled at St Paul's, they were told that the2012 had in fact far exceeded its target, with 2,700 young people now signed up to the movement from 300 different churches across London.

The2012 volunteers will now be enrolled to help with the range of Olympic initiatives planned by local churches and community groups across London. The projects range from distributing water to spectators during the cycle race to operating a community cafe in East London for local people to watch the Games in company.

Wheelchair racer Anne Wafula Strike, who is a GB Paralympic World Cup Team member and in the running for Team GB, joined the service to address the2012 recruits as they prepare to serve local Olympic projects across London. As the service came to a close, a blizzard of confetti was released from the iconic whispering gallery at St Paul's as the Bishop of London led the newly commissioned Ambassadors through the Cathedral's Great West Door.

The service at St Paul's also saw the launch of the2012 messaging, which will use social networks and SMS messages to set a challenge for the volunteers each day, as a 'dispersed flash-mob' aiming to be a force for good in every postcode in London.

Members of the2012 are aged 13-35 and come from all over London and a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. One volunteer is Lidija Mavra from Bow Common. Together with fellow volunteers, Lidija has set up a social enterprise that coaches homeless people to give walking tours, providing them with an income and allowing them to share their unique perspectives on the capital's culture and history. Unseen Tours will be running during the Summer Games.

The event marked the beginning of service for the2012. Over the past seven months they have received training across London to prepare them for volunteering during the Olympics. The training has been overseen by the London Area Bishops and has focused on mobilising them for community projects and helping them to live and share their faith.

Prayers at the service were led by Pete Greig, founder of 24/7 prayer, who is helping to coordinate 70 days of prayer through 1,000 communities across the UK with the Olympic Torch Relay, starting in Lands End on Saturday 19th May.

Anne Wafula Strike, paralympian wheelchair racer and supporter of the2012, said:

"As a Paralympian, I am full of admiration for everyone who is giving up their time, energy and dedication to volunteer to support others during 2012 Paralympic and Olympic Games in London. Each one of the commissioned ambassadors with be rewarded spiritually and they deserve a Gold Medal of their own."

Lidija Mavra, a member of the2012 and founder of the social enterprise, Sock Mob, said:

"I feel really privileged to be part of the 2012 service at St Paul's - it's a wonderful way of bringing young Christians together from all across London to reflect upon and share ideas on how we can make London a better place in 2012!"

Pete Greig, of 24-7 Prayer and Alpha International, said

"'It's thrilling to see thousands of young people galvanised by the Olympics, catalysed by their faith and mobilised to make a difference in our communities this year. With so many negative headlines about looting and knife-crime, hoodies and youth unemployment, the2012 initiative celebrates the fact that most young people in our capital are fundamentally good and that Christian faith is as relevant as ever. I'm delighted to be involved."

The 2012 - London Calling.

Last night I had the great honour of speaking in St.Paul's Cathedral in London in front of an amazing audience of 2,700 committed Christians, with hundreds more gathered outside to watch the service on giant TV screens. I've raced in front of 40,000 people in the Olympic Stadium in Rome but I didn't notice because I was too busy working hard. I was really nervous beforehand but settled when it was my turn to be interviewed then read from the Gospel of St.Matthew. It was an amazing experience and one I could never have dreamt of whilst growing up in Kenya. The whole service was beautiful and the music, provided by the Twyford Church of England High School Gospel Choir and the Tim Hughes group was truly inspirational. The acoustics in the cathedral were ethereal and everyone felt spiritually enlightened by the whole service. The Bishop of London commissioned the Ambassadors of Christ in London before leading the whole congregation out of the Great West Door alongside the Area Bishops. It will live in my memory forever.

Back to reality this morning, waking up to torrential rain and howling wind which means training on rollers this evening. It seems it has been raining ever since they announced the hosepipe ban! Oh well, I'm not going to let bad weather prevent me from trying to achieve my dream of competing in the 2012 Paralympic Games.

131 Days to Paralympic Games.

Training has been going very well. The April showers are very unpredictable and this affects the intensity of my training, especially on the track and road. Still, it has to be done, come rain, wind or shine. I was lucky today because I managed to complete my 10 mile roadwork before the heavens opened. I was joined by my friend Dougal, a very friendly dog who likes to race alongside me for part of my route. He is so cute.


Last Saturday I took part in my first meeting of the season at Kingston track in Surrey. The weather wasn't very good, very windy, but it was still good to be competing again. Mind you, we had to wait a long time before our races and we weren't allowed to have a warm up, but that's athletics. You have to learn to cope with such circumstances so you don't sustain an injury. Also, I felt very proud to be with four other wheelchair racers from Harlow, all introduced to the sport by me, and I was really happy to see them racing and performing well. It gave me a lot of joy.

To end with, I have to say I am disgusted with the way the Norwegians have allowed the racist mass murderer the oxygen of publicity as he boasts about his crimes. This is exactly what he wanted. I feel he should have been tried and sentenced behind closed doors. It must be truly awful for the families of the victims to have to see him coldly preaching his doctrine of hatred and showing no remorse for his awful crimes. 

Unwatchable

On Thursday 29 March I attended the London Youth Games as a guest of UK Athletics. I had to get up very early for an 8am start but it was well worth it to see so many young people participating in sport. I was with long jumper J.J. Jegede and canoeist Anna Jennings, amongst others, and I think we all enjoyed the experience. It was also great to hear that Balfour Beatty have extended their sponsorship of the Games to 2015, meaning £1.1 million will go towards funding grass roots youth sport in the Olympic and Paralympic host city post 2012.The young people that we spent time with in London all have the potential of being the best athletes they can be.To be successful, you must surround yourself with people who believe in your dreams.

My training has been going really well and on Sunday I competed in my first race of the season, the St.Clare's Hospice 10k road race and I was delighted to be the first woman home. It's a great start and now I need to keep working hard to improve my performance because the season begins in earnest this month.

I watched a programme on C4 last night and I have to say it made me feel really uncomfortable. It was called,'The Undateables' and followed three people with different disabilities as they tried to find love. The title is awful. Does it mean that you can't find love if you are disabled? I think not but will reserve a proper judgement once the series has ended.