Touchstone Summer 2011 - Cerebral Palsy League

In BriefSport and RecreationAward Winner Travis TranCongratulationsTravis Tran!Travis received a Sportand Recreation Award for hiscommunity work at the 2011Queensland Young VolunteerAwards.He volunteers with CPL andwas appointed the groupleader of a programwhich provides groupactivities for six tonine year-olds.At just 15years of age, heattended meetingswith various CPLrepresentatives todiscuss the scope ofactivities and developroles for everyone involved.Travis was an inspiration tothe young participants, whoworked well together andenthusiastically tried out a rangeof new activities.The awards acknowledgedyoung volunteers betweenthe ages of 12 to 25 who makea difference in all aspects ofsociety.Travis’ award was welldeservedand he received $500and a certificate of recognitionfrom the Department ofCommunities.‘‘Travis’award was,,well-deservedChannel championraises fundsCPL would like to thank CraigChapman for his outstandinggenerosity and congratulate himon completing his swim of theEnglish Channel in July.Craig truly went above andbeyond the call of duty toswim the Channel andraised a phenomenal$18,200 for CPL.He completedthe 35km swim ofthe freezing cold,jellyfish-infestedEnglish Channel injust 11 hours and43 minutes.Thank you toJohn BeanCPL would like to say‘thank you’ to John Bean forgenerously donating to ourFriendship Bank program overthe years and raising moneyfor children and adults withphysical disabilities.The ABC cameraman waskilled in a helicopter crash, alongwith two other ABC staff nearLake Eyre in August.We would also like to extendour deepest sympathies to hiswife Pip Courtney and his family.All About YouTeam Gem swims, rides and runsMaryborough’s GemmaWeinheimer is a keensports enthusiast andrecently participatedin her first all-inclusivetriathlon2011 has been a busy yearfor Gemma. She competed inthe Bundaberg Cane to Coralfun run in August, the Bridgeto Brisbane in Septemberand followed it up with theNoosa Special Triathlon in lateOctober.Gemma has cerebral palsyand, since the age of two, hasbeen benefitting from CPLservices such as physiotherapy,speech therapy and occupationaltherapy. Now at 17, there’s nostopping her.Gemma uses a wheelchairto get around and her parents,Phil and Sam, bought her aspecially designed joggingstroller.Phil said his daughter was veryexcited to be able to participatein the event, with everyone in‘Team Gem’ decked out in purplet-shirts.The Noosa Special Triathlonconsists of a 100m swim, 3kmcycle and 500m run.Gemma used a blow-up dingyand a two-wheel bike, and thenPhil pushed Gemma from behindin the jogging stroller.He said they were inspiredafter watching a YouTube videoof a father and son in America10 Touchstone Summer 2011