Fellow friends who are into snowsports, the outdoors and/or equal opportunities…
My beloved Disability Snowsport UK, a disabled snowsports charity, needs our help.
Due to the current pandemic situation, indoor snow centres being closed and sporting events not taking place, most of their usual sources of income and funding have stopped. We can help them get through this. If you can donate even only a few pounds please please do. This wonderful charity enables access to snowsports and the #powerofpowder to everyone, no matter of their physical or mental ability. We are a community of snow sports enthusiasts and are deeply missing being able to ski with each other. Please help me make sure the charity is there for us on the other side of the current situation. https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/DSUK
If it helps convince you, let me tell you some stories about what I’ve seen the charity acheive and what it means to me as a member of DSUK:
There is nothing for me that beats the rush and contentment of charging down a perfectly groomed slope on a bluebird day surrounded by beautiful mountains. Through volunteering for DSUK I’ve seen that same effect on people who are wheelchair users, are blind, have severe learning difficulties, MS… (the list goes on). Isn’t that amazing?! The feeling of freedom, of speed, of comraderie available for everyone.
This March I was out on a trip in Andorra with DSUK, and the little boy who I was skiing with all week, who has pretty severe developmental delays and I skied with last year, was so stimulated by his skiing and the environment everyday, that he did so many things for the first time that none of us, parents included, thought he’d be able to do. He figured out how to put his gloves on himself, even getting all the fingers in the right holes, he decided that stand up skiing was was more fun for him than in a sitski, he rode the chairlift for the first time singing the whole way, he skied top to bottom without any breaks or tantrums for the first time on blues and reds, he choose to get up when asked by us, put his skis on by himself, and he even almost said his first words. We (and society) underestimated him and what he could be able to do. If he can change and learn that much in a week, there are no limits on what can he grow to achieve in his life. Just one story of literally hundreds that I have witnessed myself.
For me, DSUK has meant a new community, new friends to ski with, a new part of my identity, an encouraging place for me to try new things (hello first triathlon!), a respect and understanding for the challenges and opportunities that face people with disabilities.
If you can give even just a little, I promise it will be put to good use. If each of the 1.5 millions people in the UK who go on ski holidays every year can donate just £1, imagine what that could open up for people with disabilities so that they can ski too.
https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/DSUK
Watch these videos for my last few trips if you need any more inspiration! And THANK YOU.
annejsimmons.com 