The official opening of the new accessible National Paralympic Heritage Centre took place recently with a formal reception attended by local dignitaries, Halton’s Station Commander, Group Captain Katherine Wilson, and staff from the Regional Rehabilitation Centre, RRU, based at RAF Halton. The RRU staff, Squadron Leader James Lack and Sergeant Dale Wallace, were invited due to their work with military personnel injured on Operations or sport.
Image by: RAF Halton Photographic Section
The Stoke Mandeville Stadium is the birthplace of the Paralympic movement, and key milestones in the journey from the 1948 Stoke Mandeville Games to the present day Paralympic Games include the development of wheelchair sports, technical innovations and Paralympic ceremonies.
Telling the story of the Paralympic Movement, the Heritage Centre showcases objects, documents and memorabilia including tickets, medals, sports kit, photographs and programmes that were previously held in storage and not available to the general public. The Heritage Centre also incorporates interactive displays, videos and a handling collection, highlighting sports unique to the Paralympics such as goalball and boccia.
Image by: RAF Halton Photographic Section
The Paralympic Movement began in the late 1940s at Stoke Mandeville Hospital where Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann encouraged wounded veterans to play sport as an aid to rehabilitation from spinal injury. This led to local competitions, to the Stoke Mandeville Games and to the Paralympic Games which today attracts international support and a global broadcast audience of more than four billion.
The National Paralympic Heritage Centre will celebrate and explore the unique history and the displays illustrate the determination, sportsmanship and vision that gave the world the Paralympic Games including the life and work of Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann, whose daughter, Eva Loeffler attended the launch and gave a talk.
The reception also included a talk from Nigel Purse, Chairman of the Trust, Sir Philip Craven, Honorary President, and was followed by refreshments. There was also the chance to meet Paralympians from the earliest to more recent Games and look round the new centre.
