Special Olympics GB is the country's largest year-round sports training and competition programme for children and adults with learning disabilities, transforming lives through sport day in and day out.

"To build on the excitement in the firm on the fast approaching London 2012 Olympics, we were keen to support a sporting organisation for our next charity partnership," said Robert Powell, CMS' CSR Manager.

"I was immediately impressed with Special Olympics GB and that was before I had even spoken to anyone from the Special Olympics team.

"We are delighted to support Special Olympics over the next two years using London 2012 as a catalyst to engage our employees, across all our offices, in fundraising and volunteering initiatives."

Special Olympics GB relies on the support of corporate and private donations to help oversee 138 groups in England, Scotland and Wales, including contributions from its premier partner National Grid - a CMS client.

The charity depends on the good work of over 2,800 volunteers to coach and support 8,000 people with learning disabilities in Great Britain.

"We know that our efforts will go towards revitalising and expanding the programme," Powell added.

CMS is planning two years of fundraising events ranging from charity runs, extreme sports and cycling challenges, adventure treks, in-house concerts and even weekly payday sweet sales, while "champions" in each UK office will engage their staff and help to coordinate interaction with local Special Olympics GB groups.

The relationship will extend beyond the four offices UK in Aberdeen, Bristol, Edinburgh and London and will be activated at offices in Bucharest, Budapest, Kyiv Prague and Warsaw.

Ultimately, over 600 employees across all jurisdictions in Central Eastern Europe, as well as 1,300 employees in Great Britain will be part of the firm's "champions league" of Special Olympics supporters.

Funds raised by CMS will be used for a number of different vital initiatives including sourcing a special Olympics inclusion officer in London, establishing a new local club within each of the Olympic boroughs - Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest, recruiting 1,500 new athletes and 600 new volunteers, introducing and managing new sports, and overseeing competitions.

Special Olympics chief executive Karen Wallin admitted: "Most people have never met someone with a learning disability.

"In a very short time after volunteering, you stop thinking about how different our athletes are and instead how the same we are.

"This is a great opportunity for CMS Cameron McKenna to do a world of good and help to break down barriers that many may feel about people with learning disabilities.

"With CMS' help we will reach our goal of increasing the number of athletes from 8,000 to 20,000 and the number of our volunteers from 2,800 to 4,000 by the end of 2013."

Andy Heffer, Special Olympics GB director of sports and services said: "What makes Special Olympics special is that we cater to all ability levels - unlike the Paralympics which is for elite athletes only.

"We offer a pathway for the learning disabled to be the best they can be through sports training and local, regional, national and international competitions.

"The most disabling thing for people with disabilities is not what they can do, but what people think they can't do."

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