SPICE skate into final three in national newspaper's competition

SPICE – Special People on ICE – has got down to the final three of the Daily Mirror Pride of Sports Awards in the Volunteer of the Year category in recognition of the work done by the volunteer organisation to provide ice skating to people with special needs.

Formed in 2002 with just six members, SPICE has now been operating for 13 years, teaching children and young adults with special needs how to ice skate, regularly seeing more than 100 on the ice every Sunday at Absolutely Ice, in Montem Lane.

Jo Hodgson, SPICE secretary, said: “It’s amazing. We have 25 volunteers every Sunday and it’s an award for them. The whole committee is made up of volunteers as well.

“Our youngest volunteer is 10 and our oldest is 65.

“It specifically highlights their achievements and it’s fantastic as we couldn’t do it without them.”

The organisation’s members, of which there are more than 60, have a variety of special needs ranging from autism, Asperger’s syndrome and Down’s syndrome to cerebral palsy, epilepsy, profound deafness and partial sightedness, as well as a variety of behavioural problems associated with special needs.

Professional coaches deliver SPICE’s programmes, but its team of passionate volunteers dutifully carries out the core work. As well as teaching youngsters to ice skate, SPICE has also developed several team sports to offer its members, including ice hockey and synchronised skating.

The special needs synchronised skating team is the only one in the UK and has in the last two years has performed at the Blackpool Ice Festival and at galas in Slough.

SPICE is up against John Eagleton who established Colebrook Royals Football Club, in Chigwell, Essex, and Mesba Ahmed, who runs London Tigers Football Club, an award-winning charity that engages with disadvantaged communities across London.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Grosvenor House hotel in London on Wednesday, November 25.