When Social Media does Good - Simon Richardson

Social media is getting some negative press at the moment, due to the recent riots. But this pales into insignificance when compared to the good it can do in moments of crisis. In the last 24 hours,I've been inundated with messages of support for Simon Richardson, following his accident yesterday.

Road cyclists across the UK aswell as members of the general public who have heard the crash story have been sending their best wishes via Twitter, all of which I'm consolidating on this blog to show Simon as soon as he is well enough.

In previous times, we may have read such news but felt slightly helpless that we couldn't send such support, just personally empathising from a distance. Now, these messsages of support can get to their recipient, voices can be heard and the positive side of people - reaching out in a moment of personal adversity and recognising another human beings suffering, can be heard.

I'm very glad I can help Simon and his family in this way by co-ordinating the media response to his crash and I'm overwhelmed by the support and messages that have been received. I'll ensure he sees every one. In the meantime, if you'd like to send a Tweet of support, please add the hashtag #simonstrong to your Tweet.

Note to Press; Simon Richardson is a double-gold Paralympic cyclist.  On the track in Bejing 2008 he won the LC3/4 1km time trial and 3km individual pursuit. He also claimed a silver in the road time trial and assisted team mate Darren Kenny to victory in the road race.  Further details can be found on his Wikipedia page.