The Cookie Monster stars at the KEEN Oxford Olympics

Posted: 12/07/2016

The Lord Mayor of Oxford, Mohammed Altaf-Khan and local MP Andrew Smith may have been the guests of honour at the KEEN Olympics at the Blackburn Leys Pools and Leisure Centre in Oxford on Saturday 16 June but the real stars of the show were the KEEN Athletes and the Cookie Monster.

More than 40 Athletes took part in KEEN Oxford’s end of year fun and games session which included three sporting activities and a giant obstacle course. The afternoon ended with the presentation of medals and certificates and an Olympic-sized Hokey Cokey.

KEEN Oxford is a charity that provides free social, sporting and recreational activities to children and young adults with special needs in Oxfordshire. Founded in 1988 as a joint organisation of Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University, KEEN now has around 300 volunteers who run four regular, weekly sessions during Oxford University term times for about 200 children and young adults – known as Athletes - with a wide range of physical and learning disabilities. The sessions include sports activities, performing arts and social clubs for all age groups.

For the last 18 months, the Oxford office of law firm Penningtons Manches has raised £5,000 for KEEN through a programme of events that has included bake sales, quizzes, a Ceilidh, charity runs and bucket rattling at Creation Theatre events. The firm has also provided volunteers and free legal advice for the charity.

Click here to see a photo of the event. Pictured from left to right: Dr Paul Maryan, KEEN trustee; Katie Prosser and Victoria Wright, Penningtons Manches LLP; the Cookie Monster; Paul Harding, KEEN co-ordinator; Andrew Smith, MP; and Mohammed Altaf-Khan, Lord Mayor of Oxford.

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