Zoe Dixon, manager of Team Manchester has kindly written a report of the team’s experience and performance at the recent Westfield Health British Transplant Games in Newcastle & Gateshead. With many thanks to Zoe and Arthur Taylor for sharing the report.
BRITISH TRANSPLANT GAMES
NEWCASTLE & GATESHEAD
30 July – 2 August 2015
The Manchester Adults Team put on another awesome display at the Transplant Games this year with the numbers competing as high as at our home Games last year and with both experienced and new competitors the team continues to grow, which is great to see. We had 23 transplant competitors, over 30 supporters (including live donors) and across the 4 days of competition the team won a total of 47 medals. We were the 4th best adult team overall, one place higher than last year, with a medal tally of 17 Gold, 21 Silver and 9 Bronze and Zoë Dixon was second best overall in her age category. Top 3 for the team next year then!
We proudly wore our team polo shirts, kindly sponsored by Kidneys for Life, and our team hoodies as we paraded into Newcastle City Hall for the Opening Ceremony. The four days saw over 900 transplant athletes compete in a range of sports from Archery to Volleyball and many in-between including Cycling, Lawn Bowls, Swimming, Athletics, Darts, Snooker, Ten-Pin Bowling, Golf and various Racquet sports. There were also social events for supporters to take part in such as Five-a-Side Football, Soft Cricket, Basketball and the Donor Run. The weekend culminated with a Gala Celebration event in the Sage at Gateshead Quayside, a wonderful venue and a chance to dress up and let our hair down!
Very well done to all our competitors this year:-
Barry Ackerley Scott Mackenzie
Adam Bhaiji Judith McEwen
Sam Clarke Beth Morris
James Colbeck Paul Reynolds
Zoe Dixon Lauren Sampson
Connor Ellis Lynsey Silcock Wilkinson
Mark Garstang Arthur Taylor
Brogan Haslam John Turner
Guy Hill Scott Wilkinson
Stewart Jones Joseph Wright
Mike Kewley Amitashuri Yule
Juliet Lewis
Also a massive thanks to all the friends and family who came to support the team too, the spectator support was exceptional and the whole team spirit was fantastic. Like all the competitors, I’m always so grateful that I am actually able to take part and it is only possible because of the brave decision a family made to donate their loved one’s organs. To compete is to give thanks to our donor families and living donors, demonstrate the benefits of transplantation, raise awareness of organ and bone marrow/stem cell donation and to celebrate the gift of life.
7 members of the Manchester Adults Team and 1 Junior are representing Team GB at the World Transplant Games in Argentina at the end of August, wish us luck!
Team Manchester at the Westfield Health
British Transplant Games 2015
Next year’s British Games will be held in Liverpool, 28th to 31st July 2016. Details will be publicised more in the coming months. You can keep up-to-date via the website www.britishtransplantgames.co.uk. We are always looking for and very much welcome new team members so if you are interested in taking part please do get in touch.
Zoë Dixon MBE
Manchester Adults Team Manager
Tel: 07780858558
e-mail: zoe_dixon@tiscali.co.uk
So glad to hear the team are doing so well, as a past competitor and Manchester team member I like to keep up to date with their news. Hopefully if things go as planned I may be able to take part again in the near future, unfortunately not at the level I used too but hopefully in some capacity.