THE achievements of the most inspirational disability sportsmen and women in the Thames Valley has been celebrated at the SportsAble Awards Dinner.

The ceremony was hosted by SportsAble Chair, Vivienne Davies, and saw over 50 trophies awarded to teams and individuals of every age and across 15 sports that the charity provides.

Volunteers and fundraisers were also honoured with awards for their outstanding support in helping disabled people to access sport plus their ongoing commitment to raising much-needed funds for the charity.

Joining in the applause for the successes of 2017 were 100 members plus VIP guests including long-term supporters of the charity, Anna Frizzell and two representatives from the Shanly Foundation.

Davies said in her opening speech: “This remarkable charity has continued to provide, on a weekly basis, fun, friendship and sporting opportunities for all, and we’ve continued to grow the sports that we offer.

“Air weapons and swimming membership has continued to grow, weekly kayaking and canoeing sessions are now in their second year and proving extremely popular, as is the introduction of a wheelchair dance section which embraced the strictly experience by medalling in their first competition.”

One of those dancers is amputee Jean Halkett, 73, of Maidenhead, who scooped four different awards throughout the ceremony including one for wheelchair dancing.

Halkett also won the Bouron Senior trophy for excellence in Boccia and also partnered Penny Froude to win the Boccia Doubles League trophy this season.

Halkett, who lost her leg to bone cancer many years ago, joined SportsAble in October 2016 and has thrown herself into the sports and social scene.

This willingness to try lots of different things also saw her win the Colin Bance Cup, which is awarded to the individual who has achieved the most across a variety of sports.

Maidenhead-based Tony Bond won two trophies for excellence in archery. The 49-year-old is a fibromyalgia sufferer who often battles through extreme pain and fatigue to carry on shooting in high-level competitions.

He collected the Coaches Trophy for his positive attitude and for the way he is always helping others, plus the Frank Doherty Trophy for the best aggregate score in Portsmouth round competitions.

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PHOTO: SportsAble Chair Viviene Davies addresses her audience at the awards dinner.

Husband and wife volunteer team, Peter and June Roe, also from Maidenhead, collected the Archery Pro Helper Plate for volunteering 52 Saturdays of the year, plus evenings and at special events.

Scott Lange (swimming), Carine Bey (table tennis), Janet Jeffrey (10-pin bowling) are further Maidenhead-based volunteers that collected trophies during the ceremony.

Awards were also given to Lucie Bouron (table tennis), Tamas Gasper (archery) and Tia Ruel (boccia) who are all tipped for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. The career athletes were rewarded for their ongoing high performance.

At grassroots and beginner level, there were award winners of every age and ability, each with an incredible story of triumph to tell.

Bethany McGill, 14 and from Burnham, has become an excellent BC1 boccia player, winning her the Bouron Junior Boccia trophy.

Jackie Sprules, from Stoke Poges, who despite losing nearly all of her sight recently to nerve damage, joined SportsAble in February 2017 and threw herself into sports such as kayaking, 10-pin bowling, air weapons, archery, winning her trophies in the latter two sports.

Sprules, 63, also threw herself out of a plane – literally – in September and in aid of SportsAble. For that and other fundraising feats she won the Bill Levett Trophy.

Davies says of the charity and its members: “With a can do attitude SportsAble members believe that anything is possible when a community of like-minded individuals and friends work together.

"We are all driven by a passion to offer disabled people, alongside their families and friends, the opportunity to be introduced or reintroduced to sport.

"Our philosophy is that there is no such word as can’t. Whatever our members want to achieve, we will find a way to make it happen, so I want to pay tribute to and thank all of you who make up our ever growing family.

“We are proud to have remained true to the spirit in which we started as this has shaped the club that we've become.

"It has been my absolute privilege and pleasure to have been able to say ‘thank you’ to each and everyone who has contributed to our success and to all whom make a difference.”

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