KURT FEARNLEY'S MEGA VISIT TO RUBEN CENTRE AROUND THE CORNER

It will be a busy week at the Ruben Centre next week. Kurt Fearnley the Australian Para

Olympian, and 18 others from Australia will be visiting Nairobi from Sunday February 24th until March 1st, 2019. www.kurtfearnley.com As part of his visit he will be attending many events in particular :

On Monday 25th February, 2019 - 10.00am - H.E. Ms Alison Chartres, will open the Kurt Fearnley Special Needs Unit at the Ruben Centre, Mukuru Kwa Reuben.

Wednesday 27th February, 2019 - 8.30am to 3.30pm - a Symposium will be held at the Nairobi University, and this will be followed on

Thursday 28th February 2019 by an informal Sports and Track Event at the Nairobi University Sports Venue.

Friday 1st March 2019 Brunch at the Australian Embassy

As many of you would know Kurt has a long history of achieving greatness on the track, and is a strong believer that sport offers many opportunities for people with a disability to showcase their abilities. The Novocastrian retired from international wheelchair racing this year, winning gold in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games marathon, silver in the 1500m and carrying the Australian flag at the closing ceremony.

His achievements off the racing track include crawling the entire 96km length of the Kokoda Track, raising awareness for men' s health, crewing the winning yacht in the 2011 Sydney to Hobart race and being awarded Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2005.

This year he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to people with a disability and for his fundraising achievements for Indigenous athletics and charitable organizations, as well as his Paralympic achievements. The wheelchair racer also became the first athlete with a disability to win The Don Award in October and in his acceptance speech he advocated for greater opportunities for people with disability through education and sport.

In 2015, Kurt became a Patron of the Ruben Centre Kurt Fearnley Special Needs Unit, giving his name and providing impetus for the Unit to become an integrated learning opportunity for the children abled differently in our community. During his time in Kenya, he aims to provide opportunities to promote inclusion through sport and education, to focus on abilities not disabilities, and, to give further recognition and support to the Ruben Centre Kurt Fearnley Special Needs Unit.