146 young disabled people aged 11-18 years old from the East London growth boroughs took part in a day packed with sport, physical activity arts and culture to celebrate National Paralympic Day on Saturday 7th September in the Copper Box, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
'Time to Shine', a key part of the East London post-Paralympic legacy programme, Motivate East, is an annual pan-disability event series which targets young disabled people who have not taken part in any other organised sports programmes and often do not fit into mainstream physical education/sports provision.
Martin McElhatton, WheelPower Chief Executive commented, “the events provide young disabled people with the opportunity to have a go and compete at a wide variety of inclusive sports, including swimming, inclusive cycling, wheelchair basketball, rugby, badminton, wheelchair tennis/tennis, cricket, athletics, boccia, new age kurling, dance, archery and many more.
As well as providing unique sporting experiences, ‘Time to Shine’ has been highly commended for providing outstanding social and life skills that are by far the greatest benefit of the project, such as encouraging friendships, independence, increased self esteem and confidence to the young people that have attended to date.”
In addition to Time to Shine, National Paralympic Day saw 18,000 visitors head to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to mark one year on from the Paralympics and to relive the spirit of the London 2012 Games.
PUA helps celebrate National Paralympic Day at the Copper Box
