Wednesday 2nd August 2023

We were delighted to celebrate the end of the Stories from Buckinghamshire project and the 75^th Anniversary of the very first Stoke Mandeville Games with so many local families at our Family Fun Day at Stoke Mandeville Stadium last week. 

Have a go at para sports

There were opportunities to try out some of the sports that make up the Paralympic Games, including boccia and blind football and wheelchair basketball.

  

Artist workshops

We had creative workshops with artist Jess Hamp who encouraged participants to develop colourful splodges into images from the history of the Games.

  

Textile expert Hannah Thompson from Stitching Kitchen in Brackley taught the mindful process of making Dorset buttons in the shape of wheelchair wheels. 

 

Face painting

There were also plenty of colourful face paint designs supplied by Natalie from Fandango Faces.

Pop-up Museum

Volunteering has marked such a significant part of the history of the Games and the Stories project has celebrated the efforts that local people have made to the success of the Paralympic Movement and we told the story of when the Paralympic Games came back to Stoke Mandeville in 1984 through local endeavour, with our brand new banners created by volunteer Ian Jenkins. We also had the chance to show visitors our new Paralympic Heritage Trail app featuring two self-guided tours which tell the history of the Games while exploring the local area which our PhD student, Sam Brady, has been instrumental in creating.

Meet the Paralympian, Paul Cartwright

We were also so pleased that Paralympian Paul Cartwright was able to join us and recall his memories of those Games with our audiences. 

This event was run by our experienced and knowledgeable volunteers at the NPHT whose efforts were very much appreciated.  We would also like to thank WheelPower and Serco for their support in running this successful day.

The Stories from Buckinghamshire Project was gratefully supported by the HS2 Community and Environment Fund.