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Aileen, Alistair and other physios at the Games We are all home now and digesting what was an amazing period for everyone involved. I will confess I miss leaving my washing outside my door only for it to return neatly pressed the next morning. I also am not a fan of this new found fad called “cooking”, I mean, where is my 20-station buffet?! Travelling with a Special Olympics squad is not easy, you are mentally “on duty” 24 hours for the entirety of the trip and, whereas other sports coaches involvement may end when the athlete steps off the field of play, our volunteers support athletes from

Team GB physiotherapist Alistair Beverley at the games with international Healthy Athlete manager Charita Boseman I hope you’ve all noticed through the media how well #TeamSOGB are getting along in Abu Dhabi. While we know that Special Olympics is about far more than just the medals, the guys in the squad have bought into and stuck by the values they themselves set out (below). Thus, they are reaping the rewards. So much so that GB have on a couple of occasions reached the top of the medals table. Again, I should point out that the celebration of Special Olympics competition isn’t primarily on

Hello everyone. Firstly and most importantly I must right a wrong in the previous blog post. Nicola Turner is indeed coach for artistic gymnastics, not athletics (sorry Nicola, can we be friends again?) So, the opening ceremony has come and gone and I think it's fair to say it was an exceptional experience! Inspirational words from athletes, Special Olympics chairman Timothy Shriver and others; meeting Sebastian Coe was a great experience for many of our athletes and, I think, they feel it gave them credibility as athletes. If you haven’t yet, you can download the ESPN player app and, without

Physios Alistair Beverley and Aileen Young will be supporting competitors in the Special Olympics. As I sit here it's snowing in parts of the UK and in spite of it being winter here, I’ve got factor 50 sun cream on. Right now, Aileen, myself, Nicola, Karen and Magalie are in the United Arab Emirates - travelling as part of a 180 strong delegation representing Great Britain. We are supporting athletes with intellectual disabilities (learning disabilities) or as they're referred to here, People of Determination, to compete in The Special Olympics World Summer Games. The lesser-known and non-gove

November is the TUC’s young workers month, an opportunity to give special attention to the young workforce and young trade unionists. Next year the TUC and affiliated unions are stepping things up and running campaigning, organising and recruitment activity throughout the year . It’s a response to the stark numbers: less than eight percent of workers aged 16-24 are in a union. Not because the jobs that young workers do are well-paid, with fantastic conditions. To the contrary, for many young workers, it’s the opposite. And many are not aware of their rights at work. The issues facing young wor

A recent WHO report estimated that more than a quarter of people worldwide - 1.4 billion - are not doing enough physical exercise. In the UK, inactivity levels in 2016 were 36 per cent overall – 32 per cent of men and 40 per cent of women. We know that inactivity raises the risk of a raft of health problems, such as heart disease, type-2 diabetes and some cancers. So why is it that the amount of people not doing enough has barely risen since 2001? Our own polling echoes the WHO’s findings, revealing 30 per cent of people with long term conditions are completely inactive each week. Whether it’s

As people receive their July pay packets, I am acutely aware of the complexity of the deal now beginning to be implemented for the England NHS and I know there has also been some recent confusion about what people can expect to receive and when. As a result, I thought it would be helpful to summarise the overall deal but in particular to highlight some useful new resources that should assist. The most complicated part of the agreement has always been the reform element, as 1 million NHS staff move from the old to the new pay and banding system, with a three-year transition period between the t

The CSP motto translates roughly as ‘pursue worthy aims’ and for me encapsulates perfectly what it means to be both a physiotherapist and a trade unionist. While working as a junior physiotherapist, I started out as a CSP steward 32 years ago and pursuing worthy aims was very much my goal. I wanted to help my patients, my colleagues and the NHS hospital in which I worked. NHS staff have kept the lights on during the toughest of times Fast forward to six months ago, when I joined other health trade unions to begin negotiating a new pay deal for NHS staff in England, that same feeling drove us a

I had no idea how interesting it would be, being a physiotherapist, watching my own body slide away. No, not weight loss, just a steady trickle of small things disappearing as age moves on. At 82 it is becoming more obvious and I have found it intriguing to realise that much of the loss is quietly and subtly neurological. Wish I had understood that when I was working years ago! (and a further ‘No’ - I don't think I have a neurological condition per se). So this is a report on my findings from the 'Far Side' of retirement. Maybe I should add that I am increasingly convinced that you cannot trul

From time to time, my job is extraordinary - today was one of those times. A call from the CSP press team, and then the BBC and I was on my way to Broadcasting house to sit in a pod and talk to ten regional radio stations about the likely recovery and rehab for Prince Philip, following his hip surgery. Questions ranged from the risks of surgery at his age, to what would be included in a rehab programme to his likely attendance at Prince Harry’s wedding. The experience took me back in time to November 1995, when I was interviewed for ITN news, that time about the Queen Mother’s recent hip repla