22nd November 2024
Paralympic Champion visits BHASVIC
ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students were thrilled to have a visit from Brighton Table Tennis Club's (BTTC) Tim Holtam (Founder Director) and Will Bayley (Paralympic champion) in their Enrichment session. Will brought along his gold and silver medals and Tim and Will treated us to a rally of dizzying speed, before playing with the ESOL students, many of whom had never played before. Will also played a mini match with BHASVIC Principal William Baldwin (we won't share the result here!). BTTC has supported our students, predominantly asylum seekers and refugees, for some years now, and many have enjoyed mixing with and practising English skills with players of all backgrounds, ages and abilities at the Club. BHASVIC ESOL's partnership with BTTC was key to the College's being awarded College of Sanctuary status.
Will Bayley is the former Class 7 singles Paralympic champion from Rio 2016 and, in 2024, is the current World and European champion. Paris 2024 saw Bayley compete at his fifth Paralympic Games and took his medal tally to seven - this time claiming a silver in the men's class 7 single event. Born with arthrogryposis, a rare congenital disorder that affected all four of his limbs, Will underwent numerous operations at Great Ormond Street Hospital from the age of three months old. He returned to Great Ormond Street for chemotherapy when he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma at the age of seven and it was while recovering from cancer that his grandmother bought him a table tennis table. He joined the GB Para Table Tennis team in 2006 and after representing ParalympicsGB at Beijing 2008 he returned to China on his own for several months to train with the best in the world.
