WERNICK DONATES TO PARALYMPIANS

The Wernick Group continues to be a proud supporter of charities that provide opportunities for disabled people to remain active and play adaptive sports. Recently, Wernick provided funds to Paralympians Melanie Woods and Richard Chiassaro that enabled them to compete at the Tokyo Paralympics.

In 2019, the national charity for wheelchair sport, WheelPower, received a donation from the Wheelwright 2020 Fund which was further boosted by Wernick to help Melanie Woods purchase new wheels for her racing chair. The donation meant that she could compete in the 2020 Wheelchair Racing season which was later postponed due to Covid-19.

This year, Melanie was gearing up to compete in Tokyo for the Paralympic Games and needed funds to purchase new lightweight carbon fibre wheels for her racing wheelchair which would enable her to compete more effectively. As a result, Wernick made a donation through the WheelPower charity to help Melanie get the equipment she needed.

Following the donation, Melanie received her new wheels and took part in the 400m and 800m events where she successfully improved her best times across both races and came in 4th place in the 800m final.

Chris Large from WheelPower commented: “I just want to say thank you for the amazing support from the Wheelwrights Charity and the Wernick Group which both helped Melanie get to where she is now.”

Richard Chiassaro from Harlow found himself in a similar situation to Melanie and was set to compete in the Tokyo Paralympics this year when the wheels on his wheelchair broke. Whilst Richard began borrowing a competitor’s wheelchair so he could continue his training, he was still unable to compete without a chair of his own.

Wernick worked with the Essex Community Foundation and made a donation so Richard could purchase a new set of wheels. After receiving them, Richard went on to compete in the Paralympics in Japan. He raced in the 400m and came in 7th.

Caroline Taylor, Chief Executive of Essex Community Foundation commented: “I wanted to thank Wernick for their generous support for Richard Chiassaro. We have been able to respond quickly and secure all the funds that Richard needed which is great, he is delighted.”

Executive Chairman for the Wernick Group, David Wernick, commented: “It has been a pleasure to help Richard and Melanie, I have been eagerly watching their performances and wish them all the best in their future competitions.  I would also congratulate all of our Paralympians for their incredible individual success and our overall performance at the Games.”