National Paralympic Heritage Centre

• Visitor information
• Accessibility
• About the National Paralympic Heritage Centre
• Virtual Tour
• Widgit Tour
• Paralympic Heritage Trail

Visitor information

The Paralympic Heritage Centre is now open!

As of Thursday 22nd July 2021, we are delighted to welcome visitors back to our small museum. There's no need to book, simply pop by to explore our unique Paralympic sporting collection on display. The health and safety of our visitors, volunteers and the general public is our key priority, which is why we will continue with daily cleaning, reduced capacity and QR codes to limit touch points.

For larger groups and schools we offer guided tours and talks. Please fill out our booking form here or for more information contact us at [email protected] 

Feedback from a recent visitor:

We both enjoyed our tour of the Heritage Centre and thank you for organising it. Gill & Judy made us very welcome and were so knowledgeable. You have an amazing collection, beautifully curated.

Accessibility
Getting to, and visiting the Heritage Centre

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About the National Paralympic Heritage Centre

Stoke Mandeville is widely acknowledged as the birthplace of the Paralympic movement and the National Paralympic Heritage Centre at Stoke Mandeville Stadium celebrates and explores this unique history. The displays in our small museum showcase the determination, sportsmanship and vision that gave the world the Paralympic Games including:

• The life and work of Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann.
• Key milestones in the journey from the 1948 Stoke Mandeville Games to the present day Paralympic Games.
• The development of wheelchair sports.
• Paralympic ceremonies.

Virtual Tour

Using 3D technology, you can ‘walkthrough’ exhibition spaces and zoom in on specific artefacts or artwork. You can access video, British Sign Language, text caption and audio-description options at points of interest.

Viewing the Virtual Tour

• For optimal performance of the virtual tour please view in full screen.
• To view the highlight reel/thumbnails press the arrow in the bottom left hand corner.
• To view the videos in the hotspots in full screen press the link.

Video Tour

Vicky Hope Walker, CEO of the National Paralympic Heritage Trust, takes us for a 20 minute video tour of the Paralympic Heritage Centre  showing her favourite items. The tour includes British Sign Language by interpreter Marie Biswell.

Widgit Tour

The Widgit tour has been developed to use alongside either the virtual or video tours above. Click here to view the full Widgit tour or download as a pdf. Please contact us if you require an alternative format.

Paralympic Heritage Trail

For families and children this trail is a great way to explore Stoke Mandeville Stadium and find out more about the Paralympic Movement. Download a pdf here or if you need an alternative version please contact us at [email protected] For more family fun visit our activities page here

 

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