New trust will celebrate Aylesbury's Paralympic legacy with permanent heritage centre at stadium

A national organisation which will celebrate Aylesbury's legacy as the birthplace of disability sport was officially launched at the Olympic Park in London last week.
Trustees and Paralympians gathered at the Olympic Park to celebrate the launchTrustees and Paralympians gathered at the Olympic Park to celebrate the launch
Trustees and Paralympians gathered at the Olympic Park to celebrate the launch

The National Paralympic Heritage Trust will safeguard, share and celebrate the heritage of the British Paralympic movement, bringing its stories of human endeavour to life.

It has already received a £214,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), which will enable it to develop initiatives to promote the history of the Paralympic movement, which originated from Sir Ludwig Guttmann’s work at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

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Plans includes a permanent heritage centre at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, alongside a presence in the nearby National Spinal Injuries Centre and county museum.

There will also be a nationwide series of satellite exhibitions, together with educational outreach activities and an online virtual museum.

Its chairman, Paul Mainds, said: “The development of the Paralympic Movement is an enormous subject, but at its heart it is a story of individual courage beginning with Sir Ludwig Guttmann and extending to all those who have competed and triumphed in the games, and finally, and this seems to me to the heart of it, the individual courage of all those dealing with an impairment who are able to use sport as their route to rehabilitation.”

He encouraged people with memories or mementoes related to the movement to email 
[email protected]

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