Special Olympics Ireland’s annual collection day will take place throughout Ireland tomorrow (Friday ).
Volunteer collectors will be out on the streets of Ballinasloe, Loughrea, Mountbellew, Oranmore, Tuam, Portumna, Claregalway, An Spideal and Galway city on the day.
The collection day, sponsored by eircom, is a key fundraising activity for Special Olympics Ireland to provide its programme of sports training and competition for people with intellectural disability.
There are currently 11,000 athletes involved in Special Olympics, training in 400 community based clubs, supported by a team of 25,000 volunteers.
This year the money raised will help prepare athletes for the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games whic take place in Athens, Greece in June. Some 125 athletes from Ireland will compete at these games, which are the highest level of sports competition in Special Olympics. For further information about Special Olympics Ireland visit www.specialolympics.ie
