Investigo are proud to be supporting The Panathlon Foundation as our charity partner 2019.
Panathlon is a charity which benefits 18,000 disabled young people each year in Mini-Paralympic type sports competitions across the country.
Panathlon focuses on reaching one of the most disadvantaged groups in the country, disabled children who:
- are twice as likely to be physically inactive than their non-disabled peers (Source: Sport England)
- twice as likely to live in poverty (Children's Society)
- at greater risk of experiencing social isolation and loneliness (Activity Alliance)
Panathlon provides a competitive sporting pathway for various
age ranges, impairment groups and appropriate sports, which enables local grass root competitions right through to national finals in prestigious venues such as the Olympic Park in London and Stoke Mandeville, the home of the Paralympics.
Recent independent research from the University of East London concluded "Panathlon improves self-confidence, motivation, social development and physical and mental well-being of those taking part".
"Until the day Panathlon came to school, neither we as parents or the school realised what disabled children could do. Panathlon opened our eyes.” Rebecca Lock, Parent
Liz Johnson is the charity’s Paralympic Ambassador, having
won three medals at the Athens, Beijing and London Paralympics said,
"I've been involved with the Panathlon charity for over ten years now and am delighted to see it grow across the country and benefit thousands of children with disabilities who are more often than not, denied access to sporting competitions. I’m also delighted that during this time Panathlon has created a swimming programme that now enables thousands of young children with disabilities to get into the water, many for the first time.”
Panathlon aims to grow to involve every county in the country by 2020 and benefit 20,000 young people and we hope to raise funds to help that growth into new areas as well as provide further provisions in existing locations.
Panathlon also train and provide experience for thousands of
Young Leaders aged 14-19 who help to officiate and run hundreds of sporting competitions across the country.
For further details please see – www.panathlon.com
