Karl Henry and Chris Iwelumo Join Training with Wheelchair Sports Club, Wolverhampton Rhinos

Wolves Aid are proud to support Wolverhampton Rhinos, one of the country’s leading wheelchair basketball clubs.

The amateur sports club is a registered charity which seeks to support disabled sportsmen and women in Wolverhampton, the Black Country, and surrounding areas.

Whilst their elite sports teams have been in training for ten years the Rhinos have recently introduced a Community section to their club, which anybody interested in wheelchair sports can join even those who are able-bodied.

Within just 12 months of being established this section has benefitted over 300 people by giving them access to many mainstream sports with the use of specially adapted equipment.

Wolves Aid has recently donated £9,000 to their Community project to help Wolverhampton Rhinos offer training for the 6 Paralympic sports the elite teams play to anyone who wishes to play.

Captain Karl Henry and Chris Iwelumo recently paid a visit to the club to join the top elite squad for basketball training and a practice game coached by Sinclair Thompson, assistant coach to the GB basketball Paralympic team.

Of the 13 members of the squad, 5 are contracted to GB and competed in the recent Beijing Paralympics, so it was certainly a challenge for Karl and Chris!

Felicity, part of the squad, won bronze at the recent European Women’s Basketball Championships, playing in a chair bought with the £9,000 donation that Wolves Aid made to the club.

Alan Caron, from Wolverhampton Rhinos says: “We were extremely greatly for the funding we received from Wolves Aid; it has benefited the club in terms of the amount of new wheelchairs we have been able to purchase for use in our Community Programme.

“We have seen a great increase in participation in wheelchair sports in Wolverhampton and the surrounding areas over the past 12 months, which is greatly encouraging. “

Will Clowes, Wolves Community Trust Operations Manager says: “We are delighted to be supporting such a worthwhile initiative as the Wolverhampton Rhinos.

“A donation of this nature demonstrates the diversity of the many funded Wolves Aid projects.

“Through recent Wolves Aid donations we have helped create and sustain many local charities and organisations for the benefit of the local community for years to come.

“It demonstrates the commitment of our chairman Steve Morgan, our players and staff to the support of community development across the West Midlands region.

“Having the support of the players really helps to highlight the work being carried out by both Wolves Community Trust and Wolves Aid.”