The PACE Annual Awards 2013 took place on Saturday 14th December, at the Havelock Community Centre.

This year was one of the biggest and most successful years for PACE. Building on from the paralympics, PACE has developed two new services, enabling disabled people to participate in sport. Five PACE Boccia athletes attended the London Regionals, three at the National Finals and one at the GB Championships. On top of this, two additional PACE Boccia athletes have been selected to be part of the England Talent Pathway, joining two existing athletes in the England Talent and Lions squads.

PACE has developed more coaches to ensure the sustainability of these services, delivered new activities, including sitting volleyball, gone on more trips and received more support from local organisations, including Tesco, Sainsburys and Flower Crazy.

Most importantly, we are seeing an increase in the number of members that want to join a club, where they can take part in sport at a level of their choice, have birthday parties, play games, do arts and crafts, develop their skills and make new friends. In order to meet this rise in membership, PACE has trained more volunteers, developed additional Team Leaders and as a result of the fantastic work that our volunteers do, they have been honoured at City Hall, by Boris Johnson.

The Awards

The Don Taylor Trophy.

Awarded to a PACE volunteer that has shown tremendous commitment and contribution to PACE.

Congratulations to…  Saad Ahmad

Saad enriches the lives of our members by providing physical and social opportunities for them, so that they can develop their confidence and ability. Saad is best known for the adapted cricket sessions he delivers and his Bollywood dance moves.

The Jack Petchey Awards

Awarded to young people who have made a significant difference to the organisation they volunteer for.

Congratulations to…

• Adesodun Tanimomo
• Andrea Zemenides
• Bhav Grewal
• James Kumar
• Rudrik Thakkar

These five young people are committed, reliable, honest and approachable. They work hard to support the development of our members. As a club predominantly for young people, we are lucky to have these volunteers as role models within our organisation.

The Shining Light Award

Awarded to somebody who has made a significant impact within their community.

Congratulations to…   Sunil Birdy

Sunil has engaged hundreds of disabled people in sport and physical activity in Ealing, through schools, day centres, clubs and local organisations. He has also developed the Multi-sport Challenge Day service, aimed at including people with complex disabilities in sport. As well as this, Sunil is the PACE Head Coach and also coaches the Boccia England Lions BC4 Squad.

Introduction to Child Protection

In-line with our responsibility to protect and safeguard vulnerable people, the following PACE volunteers have completed this course, delivered by Bernadette from the ESCB (Ealing Safeguarding Children Board).

• Amrit
• Andrea
• Bobby
• Gurbachan
• James
• Rose
• Rudrik
• Saad
• Sonia
• Sunil

New Team Leader

The person that has been made a Team Leader this year is somebody who regularly attends the Multi-sport Challenge Day service, where she provides an exceptional level of support to people with very complex disabilities. She is a committed and reliable member of PACE, who is always on hand to offer support. We look forwards to welcoming her on to the team.

Congratulations to…     Sonia Kaul

Question of PACE Sport Trophy

The Question of PACE Sport Quiz is an inclusive quiz, featuring practical, theory, mystery guest, sensory and bonus rounds. Both teams worked hard this year to prepare for the quiz, however there can only be one winner.

Congratulations to… The Red Team

In House Boccia Competition

Each year, the Red Team and the Blue Team participate in an in-house boccia league. Ten sessions have been played over the course of the year. The results were very close with both teams finishing on an equal number of wins. In true boccia fashion, the scores were looked at to decide who would be the winning team.

Congratulations to… The Red Team

PACE Boccia Regional Athletes Medal Success

PACE entered five boccia athletes into the London Regionals 2013. They all performed exceptionally well, with four out of the five athletes taking a medal. The athletes work hard in training, support each other and deserve every one of their successes.

Congratulations to;

• Alex Dukes; who finished in 3rd place in the London Regionals, qualifying for the National Finals. Alex played some fantastic boccia here, finishing in 4th place and qualifying for the GB Championships, where he finished in 6th place. A brilliant season for Alex.
• Jagjit Chuk; who claimed his first BC3 regional Gold medal at the London Regionals. Brilliant play throughout the competition.
• Reshad Saraj; in his first full season, Reshad finished second in the London Regionals, qualifying for the Nationals. On top of this, Reshad recently took another silver medal at the South-East regionals.
• Ramandeep Mann; a calm and experienced athlete, Ramandeep has worked hard this season and took a bronze medal at the London Regionals 2013. An England Talent Squad athlete, she hopes to break into the international set-up in the near future.

Overall, the PACE Annual Awards 2013 were a great success. Thank you to everybody who has supported the organisation over the year, we hope 2014 will be even bigger and better!