X Factor singer gets support from Paralympic champions to raise funds for London 2012 Legacy

A press release:

 David Weir MBE, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Mickey Bushell, Danielle Brown, and entire wheelchair rugby team just some of the Paralympic athletes backing Lord Coe charity to establish sports academy supporting UK’s budding future Paralympic champions.

Paralympic champions from Beijing and competitors for London 2012 have thrown their support behind a new single released 2^nd August to help raise funds for a charity that gets disabled kids into sport and music.

The single, called Light the Flame and sung by former X Factor singer Andy Abraham and the Elmbridge Choir, will raise money for charity Get Kids Going! to establish a sports academy, spearheaded by Paralympian David Weir, dedicated to supporting disabled youngsters . The fundraising target is £200,000.

The charity, whose President is Lord Sebastian Coe, has already helped many kids become Paralympic athletes but is now looking to help the next generation realise their dreams as part of the ‘Inspire a Generation’ legacy of the games.

While a number of current athletes have already benefited from Get Kids Going! (list below), it is the next generation that need more help and support.

For example, fifteen-year-old Jack Binstead, born with brittle bone disease has suffered over sixty fractures in his short life, but thanks to the wheelchair donated by Get Kids Going! he’s aiming to compete in the 2016 Paralympic Games in Brazil. “It’s going to be a lot of hard work, but no pain, no gain”, says Jack.

“The aim is to establish a sports academy to reach and help more kids that want to develop sports skills and thanks to the Elmbridge Choir, music skills too,” said Jane Emmerson, CEO of Get Kids Going! “Without our funding and support these kids would struggle to realise their potential and to maximise their opportunities within sport and music. We are hoping the single, written by Judith Kelly, will go some way to helping us achieve our goals.”

David Weir, MBE, Vice-President of Get Kids Going!, World Number One Paralympian, six-times winner of the London Marathon, and 2012 winner of New York Marathon, says:

“Get Kids Going! has been a massive help and supported me over the years.  Without the equipment supplied by the charity I wouldn’t be where I am today, competing in London 2012.  Get Kids Going! has had a major impact on Paralympic sport. Buying the single of ‘Light the Flame’ would help towards setting up the David Weir Racing Academy.”

Sheikh Sheikh, winner of the Junior London Marathon 2012, says:

“I broke the course record in the Junior Wheelchair Marathon all thanks to Get Kids Going! and my new wheelchair. My sport means everything to me.  Get Kids Going! has really changed my life and without them, I’d just be a couch potato.  The charity has given me hope that one day I’m going to make it and I will reflect on that day and say, ‘Get Kids Going! thank you very much.’  My motto is: Make the most of everything, don’t let anything get you down… where there’s a will there’s a way.”

Current and past athletes available to speak about Get Kids Going! and the forthcoming Paralympic Games:

David Weir, MBE Paralympic Athlete

Mickey Bushell – 100 metres.  Silver Medallist in Beijing

Shelly Wood – 5,000 metres. Bronze Medallist in Beijing

Danielle Brown – Archery. Gold Medallist in Beijing

Louise Hunt – Wheelchair tennis

Ali Jawad – Power lifting

Members of the entire wheelchair rugby team

Jack Binstead, training for 2016 Rio Paralympics

Toby Gold, cerebral palsy athlete

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, VP of Get Kids Going! and winner of 11 Paralympic gold medals

Additional comment from:

Cliff van Tonder, flamboyant MD of Elmbridge Choir

Singer/songwriter Katy Haymer, arranger and soloist on “Light the Flame”

The two child soloists of the song, Sam & Olivia

Former DJ, Ed “Stewpot” Stewart, a member of Elmbridge Choir

Jane Emmerson, CEO of Get Kids Going!

Andy Abraham, X Factor singer

Sebastian Coe, President of Get Kids Going! (available for comment after 12^th August)