The celebrations commenced with an inspiring presentation from Paralympic Gold Medallist John Harris at the Civic Centre in Aylesbury. John who won the discus gold medal at the 1984 Games which were held at Stoke Mandeville, explained how sport has shaped his life following a fairground accident and emphasised how the young people should always show motivation, determination and courage to achieve their dreams. His presentation was followed by that of Nick Fuller the head of the London 2102 Education Programme who explained about the pivotal role of Stoke Mandeville in the development of disability sport over the past 60 years.
The schoolchildren then moved into Kingsbury in the Aylesbury Town Centre to witness a stunning dance and musical performance from the Signdance Collective before enjoying a vibrant mix of sports and arts taster sessions provided by the Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes County Sports partnership, The I-Van Multi-Media Project, Soundstudio and visual artists working on the production of flags, banners and a mural project for the new Aylesbury Waterside Theatre.
“The atmosphere in Kingsbury was absolutely electric, all of the young people got thoroughly involved in the activities, it was great to see different groups mixing and learning new skills ranging from wheelchair basketball, sports hall athletics, polybat & boccia, model animation and dj-ing.” said Ian Barham the Buckinghamshire Manager for the 2012 Games. He added, “The aim of the event was to help provide an insight into Paralympic sports, but also to bring together sporting and cultural activities as part of the launch of the 2012 Education and Cultural Olympiad programmes. I was particularly pleased to see how the atmosphere was instantly captured by visual artist Rachel Gadsden working on a large canvas and young filmmakers working amongst the crowds”
At the end of the session in Kingsbury, four flags symbolising the Paralympic Values of courage, determination, inspiration and equality were carried by pupils from local schools to join up with the parallel celebrations at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, the spiritual home of disability sport.
The centrepiece of the Stoke Mandeville celebrations was a parade of 50 former Paralympians followed by the flags of the 147 competing nations carried by the school children all accompanied by the Wycombe Steel Orchestra, Army Cadet Drummers and a Bollywood Carnival Band. The focus of the celebrations then returned to Beijing via a large screen link up before being completed back on the Stoke Mandeville trackside by the raising a specially commissioned 60th anniversary flag to mark the moment the Paralympics truly came home.
The whole event was covered live on Sky News and received significant coverage in both the national print and broadcast media. Attached is links to some of the excellent features on this special event taken from the Disability Arts Online Website, Bucks TV Coverage and from the London 2012 Website.
http://www.disabilityartsonline.org/site/paralympic
http://www.buckstv.co.uk/2012handoverstokemandevillestadium.html
http://www.buckstv.co.uk/2012handoverkingsbury.html
http://www.london2012.com/blog/2008/09/22/long-live-the-paralympics.php
