Nottinghamshire’s world record disabled marathon athlete is the guest speaker at a charity lunch in the city next month.

Richard Whitehead, who won the BBC East Midlands Disabled Sports Personality of the Year title, is the special guest at the SportsAid East Midlands lunch.

The double amputee is the world marathon record holder after clocking a time of two hours, 50 minutes and 38 seconds in the Chicago Marathon in October.

Businesses across the region are invited to attend the event, which is supported by Yorkshire Bank, PKF and Nelsons, in the Derek Randall Suite at Trent Bridge on Friday, March 12 at noon.

Sixteen-year-old Andrew Zawadzki will also be presented with the March SportsAid Award after winning Rushcliffe Borough Council’s Junior Disabled Sports Person of the Year Award 2009. 

Joanne Belton, partner in private banking at Yorkshire Bank’s Financial Solutions Centre in Nottingham, said the aim of SportsAid is to provide funding to young, talented sportspeople aged between 12 and 18 who are able bodied and disabled.

“The charity’s aim is to provide funding at grassroots level for many talented youngsters who may not qualify for National Lottery funding,” she said.

“We give an award at each lunch to help those in the East Midlands who show great promise and we wish Andrew the best of luck after he set new British and European records in the 50m backstroke at the British International Learning Disability Championships last year. 

“Richard is our special guest at the SportsAid lunch and I am sure he will have many inspiring tales to tell the audience.

“The title of this lunch is ‘In the face of adversity’ and Richard has certainly faced more than his fair share of hurdles after being born without legs below the knees.

“But he has never let that deter him from achieving his ambitions and he certainly had a 2009 to remember after becoming the first leg amputee to break the three-hour barrier in the Rome marathon and setting a new world record in Chicago.

“We hope as many businesses as possible in the region will be able to join us.”

Tickets for the lunch are priced at £25 and are available by contacting Jo Slater at jo.slater@uk.pkf.com