THE WAMDSAD MARATHON WHEELCHAIR PUSH

“Having a Fun Day Fund Raising”
Saturday 10th July 2004

Rain Rain Go Away, Come Back Another Day!!

This was the universal cry on Saturday 10 July when 17 teams came together for our 28 th Annual Wheelchair Push. In actual fact, the weather was lovely for the start of the day when all the teams came together in fancy dress to be judged by the Deputy Mayor. The winners this year were – Best Dressed Team went to e.centre who came as Pirates of the Sea! Best Dressed Disabled member went to Sam Hayes who was part of the Running Sisters team all dressed as fairies! Best Dressed Able Bodied went to Chris Meade who came as Fred Flinstone. Congratulations to you all. Congratulations also should go to all the teams who stuck it out during the downpours, thunderstorms, hail and everything else that was thrown at them, including money!! Yes, despite the weather we raised the princely sum of £8,909.42. JJ's team won the Bob Barlow “Most Money Raised On The Day” trophy, they raised a magnificent £1,988.03 and the rugby club came in a close second with £1,500.41. Well done everyone. I would also like to add my personal thanks to all those people who helped out during the day which meant that the day ran very smoothly indeed, people who went out as statics, the static marshals at each checkpoint, the roving marshals, wheelchair back-up, those in the office co-ordinating all the teams, the chefs at the barbecue, and finally a very big thank you goes to Trevor and his team for all their hard work behind the bar, and organizing the karaoke which – I gather – was very successful. Without all these people, the day would come to a grinding halt. Next year's date has already been put in the diary – 9 July 2005 . Look forward to doing it all again then!!

Background to the Push

The WAMDSAD Wheelchair Push is probably one of the most celebrated charity fund raising events in the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead’s annual calendar. Now in its 28th year, “The Push” is not only one of the financial mainstays of WAMDSAD, having raised around £300,000 over the years, but through the introduction of hundreds of able-bodied people to WAMDSAD’s disabled members, has done much to assist the integration aims of the Club.

Most importantly, “The Push” is about having FUN!

How does The Push work?
We invite teams of ‘pushers’ from Clubs, Pubs, Sports Associations, local companies - in fact from anywhere - to push disabled members of WAMDSAD in wheelchairs (which we provide) over a course of either the marathon (26 miles) or half marathon distance, as preferred, over a road route in the Windsor and Maidenhead area.

How large does a Pushing Team have to be?
A Pushing Team can consist of as many members as desired - in fact the more the merrier!

Does each member of the Team have to do the whole distance?
No. Each Team member can walk, push or run as far as he/she wants to. Clearly, the more members there are in the Team, the less distance each individual has to cover. The important thing is that the wheelchair (with occupant!) completes the distance.

What’s the purpose of The Push?
The Push has two objectives - to raise as much money for WAMDSAD as possible and for everybody to have a lot of fun!

How do you raise money?
Each Team member should try to obtain as much sponsorship as possible on behalf of the Team - according to the distance the Team covers. Additionally, we provide lots of collecting tins and buckets for Team members to collect money around the route. Our target for this year is to raise £20,000 for WAMDSAD.

What about fancy dress?
We encourage Teams to look as silly as possible through creative use of fancy dress! It really helps with the money collection. What’s more we offer star prizes to the best-dressed Teams!

Is it a race?
Certainly not! Teams can take as long as they like to complete the course - provided they finish before midnight!

What support services are there?
We provide a full support infrastructure - Route Marshalls, Route Checkpoints, a Communications Network and First Aid. All we ask is that each team has available a Back-Up Car or Van to ferry members around the route as required.

How do we enter a Team?
That’s easy. Simply contact John Jenkins. We’ll be delighted to send you further details. Alternatively, click here for an entry form and download a sponsorship form here.

Liz Hornby
Tel: 01628 627690
Fax: 01628 673505
Email: