Special Olympics GB Announces Colin Dyer As New CEO

Special Olympics GB today announced Colin Dyer has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the non-profit organisation.

A highly experienced leader within the charity sector, Colin will start with Special Olympics GB on Monday 9th May 2022.

Colin joins Special Olympics GB from the well-respected charity, WellChild, where he was Chief Executive for just over 12 years. Prior to joining WellChild, Colin spent five years heading up the Sir Steve Redgrave Trust before working on the integration of that charity into the Comic Relief portfolio.

A qualified senior journalist, Colin spent 10 years directing and consulting on sports marketing and sponsorship campaigns in the UK and across Europe – including work to incorporate cause-related and charity-focused elements in major sport sponsorships alongside organisations such as World Aids Day, the Unicef World Food Programme, and the Princes’ Trust. 

To ensure a thorough and extensive search for the role of CEO was undertaken, Special Olympics GB worked closely with Nolan Partners, a recruitment firm who specialise in finding talented leadership executives in the sports, media, and entertainment fields. Their expertise proved invaluable with a wide range of high calibre candidates put forward for consideration. Colin’s background and experience from his varied roles across charity and the sports marketing industry proved to be a perfect fit for the role of CEO for Special Olympics GB.

Paul Richardson, Chair of Special Olympics said: “On behalf of the Board of Trustees and everyone at Special Olympics GB we are delighted to welcome Colin to our organisation. Colin is a hugely well-respected individual who brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to Special Olympics GB. With a strong commercial background and a proven track record of successfully influencing change at a variety of levels, we are confident Colin’s skillset will help Special Olympic GB to grow and thrive and be able to help more of the 1.5 million people living with intellectual disabilities in Great Britain today. More than anything else, Colin is hugely passionate about helping people access opportunities and we are excited to see where Colin will take Special Olympics GB moving forward.” 

Colin Dyer, CEO Special Olympics GB said: “I couldn’t be more excited to join this fantastic organisation, and to start to get to work on the development of Special Olympics GB at all levels right across Great Britain – creating opportunities for inclusion for as many people as possible. It is already clear that there is a very talented team at Special Olympics GB who have steered the organisation through the Covid pandemic and begun to plan for the growth we know is possible, and which is so important for people with intellectual disabilities of all ages and from all backgrounds. I look forward to hitting the road and meeting the people delivering those opportunities all around Scotland, England and Wales and working with the team on some of the exciting plans already in the pipeline.”

One of the first major events Colin will be focusing on is the Special Olympics GB’s Summer Series of Sport which will see our athletes return to full-scale competition for the first time in two and a half years in the largest celebration of intellectual disability sport in Great Britain this year. Running between June and September, The Special Olympics GB Summer Series of Sport will be made up of approximately 19 single and multi-sport events, providing competition in 12 sports offering the opportunity for at least 1,500 Special Olympics GB athletes, with the support of our volunteers, to compete for the first time since February 2020 due to the consequences of Covid-19. Special Olympics GB Summer Series of Sport events can now be found on our website.