A round-robin charity wheelchair basketball event will be held on Friday,19 July 2013 at The Forum, University and will be hosted by our own Hunter Paralympian, Liesl Tesch.
‘Go Wheeling’ is a fundraiser for local organisation, Wheeling and Able, to help with their funding of scholarships, mobility equipment and holiday and respite units for children with disabilities.
Without the help of government funding, Wheeling and Able assists 16,000 Hunter families purchase specialist mobility equipment for children with physical disabilities. The organisation provides more than $220,000 annually to support their cause.
Leisl Tesch is a six-time Paralympian, and has won a Silver medal at both Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 in wheelchair basketball. Most recently she won Gold at London 2012 in sailing.
Ms Tesch pioneered ‘Go Wheeling’ in partnership with local businesses to raise awareness of the work of Wheeling and Able.
”Go Wheeling’ is all about good team fun, with teams competing in round robin of four games of just five minutes.” Liesl said. “Some of the players are champion athletes, wheelchair athletes and anyone else who just wants to have a go.”
The event calls upon the support of local businesses to become ‘Go Wheeling Chair Sponsors’ and the local community is encouraged to come along and cheer for a gold coin donation, with further fundraising activities on the night.
Wheeling & Able CEO, Karen Phillips, said for more than 80 years the charity organisation has relied on the generosity of the Hunter community, and asks that people keep supporting one of the region’s most valued community groups.
