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THE BDO GETS DARTS INTO EDUCATION

The British Darts Organisation’s valuable two-year partnership with the government’s ‘Get On’ campaign to improve numeracy, has resulted in darts being used as the basis for a maths qualification.

Skills Minister Phil Hope, MP, is so keen on this latest government initiative that he became the first Minister to play in a televised match at Lakeside, when he took on Bobby George as part of the BBC’s extensive and varied coverage of the 2006 World Professional. He was immediately nicknamed ‘Phil The Skill’.

He also met England captains Martin Adams Winmau player Trina Gulliver and presented the BDO with a brass plaque to mark their support of the Get On campaign, and the success of darts in improving numeracy skills.

Winmau sponsored Andy Fordham launched the ‘Get On’ campaign on behalf of the BDO in 2004, and it has become one of the most successful government initiatives in recent years. The last two Lakeside World Pro’s have attracted ministerial visits and the distribution of Get On literature to the capacity audiences.

Phil Hope’s visit to Lakeside 2006 produced high-profile media interest, with national newspaper features and TV and radio exposure.

“The BDO’s involvement with this campaign has been extremely valuable in raising the profile of darts”, says Olly Croft. “Everyone involved in our sport has always recognised the mathematical benefits and mental agility needed to play competitively at all levels. We are delighted that the government has recognised this with the Get On campaign, and I am proud that darts is now helping so many people to improve their numeracy”.

Amazingly, 14 million adults in this country have maths skills lower than that of the average 11 year-old.

“This doesn’t just have a detrimental effect on an individual’s job prospects, but is bad for the country as a whole”, says Phil Hope. “If people are inspired to improve their maths through a sport they enjoy like darts, then so much the better”.

Someone who did just that is Helen Rigg, who actually went to the same school as six times Women’s World Champion Trina Gulliver.

Helen left school with no maths qualifications, but darts has changed her life. “I started playing at 19, but at first I was too embarrassed to chalk because of my poor maths skills”, she says. “However, because I wanted to play I made the effort to improve, and the transformation has been wonderful. Darts has changed my life very much for the better”.

Indeed, Helen now plays for Warwickshire and her maths is so improved that she has now enrolled on an accountancy course at her local College.

The BDO is proud to be continuing its valuable liaison with the Get On campaign, and anyone interested in receiving literature or details of the free courses available should call: 0800 100 900.

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NEW VENUE FOR 2006 BDO BRITISH OPEN AND 2006 WINMAU WORLD MASTERS

The 2006 BDO BRITISH OPEN and 2006 WINMAU WORLD MASTERS will be played at LEISURE WORLD, Bridlington while The Spa Royal Hall is undergoing a multi-million pound refurbishment programme in readiness for 2007.

The BDO British Open will be played in its ‘temporary home’ from Friday, September 15th to Sunday, September 17th, and for the first time ever the Singles will be broadcast live by Eurosport as part of a new broadcasting contract for Eurosport to screen BDO/WDF Open events throughout the year.

The Winmau World Masters will be played from Friday, October 13th to Sunday, October 15th, with the usual excellent TV coverage on BBC-1’s ‘Grandstand’ and BBC-2 ‘Sunday Grandstand’ over the weekend of October 14th and 15th.

The new venue is situated on Bridlington Promenade within walking distance of The Spa and has a whole range of facilities for family enjoyment and entertainment.

“The refurbishment work at The Spa Royal Hall will greatly improve the excellent facilities, but unfortunately won’t be ready in time for either the 2006 BDO British Open or the 2006 Winmau World Masters”, says Olly Croft.

“However, Bridlington has now become the home of both major tournaments and we didn’t want to go anywhere else. East Riding Council have always been welcoming to our darts and the players, officials and fans, and I thank them most sincerely for providing such an excellent temporary venue at Leisure World of the biggest major tournaments on the BDO calendar. And there is a real bonus, because both will be televised to huge audiences.”

The BD British Open is firmly established as one of the most popular events - for both players and spectators - on the British Darts Organisation calendar.
2006 is the 32nd staging of the BDO British Open, which made its successful Bridlington debut in 2003. It now returns for the 4th successive year.

The thirty-third Winmau World Masters is the final leg of the BDO’s prestigious Grand Slam title of televised majors, and will be staged for the fifth successive year in Bridlington. The oldest established major event in World Darts (first staged in 1974) it is unique for having four separate finals: Men, Women, Boys and Girls Masters.

As always, it is expected to attract hundreds of top players from over thirty countries.

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Winmau Sign Darts Champion Andy Fordham

Winmau has announced that it has signed a contract with one of the most popular personalities in darts, Andy Fordham. Andy has become a major TV celebrity since being seen by 4.6 million BBC viewers when he was crowned the BDO’s 2004 Lakeside World Professional Darts Champion.

Andy’s undoubted darting talent and larger than life appeal has seen him star in this year’s top-rating ‘Celebrity Fit Club’ and he has made guest appearances on countless TV shows, including ‘Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway’, ‘A Question Of Sport’, Sky TV’s ‘Brainiack’, ITV’s ‘The Paul O’Grady Show’ and many more.

On Saturday, October 22nd he joined the hugely popular Ant & Dec in a superb version of ITV’s ‘Bullseye’, which was played on the Winmau Blade Dartboard and watched by over 8.5 million viewers.

There are a whole range of guest appearances coming up which include ‘Ready Steady Joe’ with ‘King of The Jungle’ Joe Pasquale, ‘Titti-Titti-Bang-Bang’ for comedians Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer’s production company ‘Pet Productions’, as well as a one off special of ‘Celebrity Fit Club’, ‘Through the Key Hole’ & a guest appearance on ‘They think it’s all over’.

Andy has also become a favourite of the Celebs. Dave Richards, Andy’s Manager, said ” One of his biggest surprises came in the after show party of ‘Ant & Dec’s The Price Is Right’ when singer Robbie Williams and Andy became instant friends. It is also rumoured that Oasis star Liam Gallagher was very disappointed at not meeting Andy when he had to cancel his ‘Hells Kitchen’ appearance earlier in the year.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see both of them at The Lakeside World Championships in January, because in addition to being huge Andy Fordham fans, they love their darts – and so do Ant & Dec. We could be having a showbiz party of our own during the 2006 Lakeside World Pro”!

Andy said, “Having used Winmau dartboards for many years, both in my pub and at major tournaments, I’m absolutely over the moon with this new deal, and signing with Winmau is another major step towards me regaining the World Title.”

Winmau has provided Andy with totally new equipment and as a result will be launching several great additions to the Winmau range in 2006. This will include an Andy Fordham Blade III Dartboard, with several superb Viking Raiders tungsten dart options.

The agreement makes provision for Winmau to provide exclusive first-class darts equipment that is specially designed with Andy Fordham in Winmau’s purpose built Darts & Innovation Workshop.

The Winmau Innovation Workshop first arrived in 2002, when the Winmau group decided that a true manufacturer should support the darts industry with a purpose built facility. Winmau has since expanded the Workshop and factory twice and the current 35,000 square foot fully fitted factory is the most advanced yet.

Ian Flack, Winmau’s Sales & Marketing Director, said: “This contract is recognition for the role Andy plays in the game of Darts. Although Andy’s celebrity status has grown hugely in the last couple of years, he is one constant that the darts fans can rely on. Andy’s commitment to darts is of the highest standard and with his outstanding levels of performance Andy can be confident of our full backing in striving to achieve both his darting and personal goals”.