17th October 2022

An Update from NPHT

Autumn is here and we have been celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, as well as planning out a season of activity for you to participate in over the coming months. We hit our target of 20,000 visitors to our Heritage Centre since opening after Covid. In fact, we went over that and our exhibition in London has reached over 200,000 in partnership with the London Legacy Development Corporation.

The 10th Anniversary since the 2012 Games has seen us participate in the C4 celebratory dinner, sharing some of our collection at the event, and we have launched the virtual version of the exhibition at the Olympic Park, London and have 12 objects from the collection on display across 12 of Buckinghamshire’s cultural venues as part of a joint project ‘Together We Build’. At the Heritage Centre this includes letters between Dr Guttmann and Dorothy de Rothschild. All the objects have been selected by disabled community curators and we are very thankful to Buckinghamshire Culture for leading on this work.

This month we’ve also launched an exciting art commission with the Artist Jordon Baseman as part of the Meeting Point programme with Arts&Heritage. Find out more about this below.

A Spotlight On ... Fundraising and our next 5-year strategy

We are busy developing a second, exciting 5-year strategy. It is a tough climate, but we have two new excellent team members to assist us with the fundraising as part of our sustainability planning. Emma Carroll joined us in August as Corporate Fundraiser, bringing 7 years of local charity fundraising experience to the team. Emma said:

I am delighted to have joined the NPHT at such an exciting point in its journey. It’s a real privilege to be able to work with such a well-known and well-respected brand as the Paralympics.

Rose Walker joined us in September as Grants and Foundations Fundraiser, bringing with her a wealth of experience across the sports, youth, and well-being agendas. Rose said:

My passion for promoting inclusion and opportunity for all, alongside a belief in the power of sport to change lives brought me to my new role at NPHT. I am really excited to have joined our dedicated team of staff and volunteers committed to preserving, celebrating and changing lives through our Paralympic Heritage.

If you know of a company who would be interested in developing a partnership with us, please contact Emma at: [email protected] or visit our corporate support page here. Equally if you have links to any trusts or charities please contact Rose at: [email protected]. 

  

Emma Carroll and Rose Walker

What's On...

To mark Sporting Heritage Day, we drew on the legacy of Dr Guttmann’s holistic approach to treating the mind and the body by commissioning Paulina Porwollik, a dance specialist working on our Stories from Buckinghamshire project to produce two well-being videos to help our audiences find a sense of inner calm ahead of planning their day. View these videos here

Tuesday 25th October, 10:30-12:30 and 13:30-15:30 at the Paralympic Heritage Centre.

Join us for our ‘All things Costume’ half term event. During this fun and interactive session, we will be exploring all things costume from London 2012.

Thursday 27th October 11:00-16:00 at the VeloPark, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Come along and visit the exhibition and join in with some craft activities and meet a guest Paralympian who competed at the London 2012 Games.

Sunday 6th November 11:30-13:30 Buckinghamshire History Festival.

At this year’s event we will delve into our displays and look closer at our London 2012 collection with craft activities and a trail for younger children.

How it began...’Together We Build’

Last year in discussion with Buckinghamshire Culture we raised the idea of celebrating ‘10 years on from the London 2012 Paralympic Games’ in the County. In partnership with 11 cultural organisations we are displaying 12 items from our collections, selected by disabled community curators, at venues across Buckinghamshire. This is supported by a series of events and will result in a disability access manifesto for the next 10 years. It is very exciting working with so many like-minded organisations. Being the birthplace of the Games it is so important to aim for the highest level of cultural access and this is only the start!

For more information on this project: https://buckinghamshireculture.wordpress.com/together-we-build/  

Jordon Baseman Art Commission

Do Faster Win More is one of six national art commissions made by artists responding to heritage in the Meeting Point programme, developed by Arts&Heritage. Inspired by the history of the NPHT, international artist Jordon Baseman reveals the timelessness and universality of certain human qualities and ideas and creates new ways for people to connect with Paralympic heritage. The film was launched virtually on the 24th September, and we are holding an online panel discussion with Jordon Baseman on 27th October 7-8.30pm, chaired by the internationally acclaimed curator Linda Rocco. Find out more and take part here.   

The Rothschild Project

Since May almost 500 hours have been completed by participants, continuing to create and edit the 3D models as well as completing historical research and writing museum labels.  Over the summer we were fortunate to have Dr Li Sou from Cotswold Archaeology deliver some training in photogrammetry, a different type of 3D modelling technique which allows us to create models of smaller items from the collection, such as medals, of which we have a large number!

Three members of the Digital Explorations team are now working for us on the project in a paid capacity and we have offered our skills to local museums who have lent us items from their collection to scan. You can view some of the models here: https://sketchfab.com/npht 

Stories from Buckinghamshire Project

  

This significant project which takes in communities along phase 1 of the HS2 railway route continues to embrace the themes integral to the Paralympic Movement through Paralympian talks and artist workshops. One recent example has been the work of artist Kristina Veasey who created a celebratory collective artwork with students at Wendover Church of England Junior School. She taught the children the technique of weaving using raffia. Using colour to make references to the spectacle of the community of athletes coming together in the opening and closing ceremonies and weaving as a symbol of the woven pathways that bring all athletes together. Click here to find out more!

Volunteers

As always a big thank you to all our volunteers, those who have supported us at our many events, box-listing our collections, finishing off the transcripts from oral histories and researching Paralympic athlete profiles. We couldn’t do this without you.
 
Reflections on the athlete journey to and beyond 2012 have been captured in 2 informal interviews by volunteer George Glinski who chatted to Paralympic rower Helene Raynsford and Paralympic boccia athlete David Smith OBE. You can watch their interviews here.
 
We are looking for volunteers to join our dedicated team. Are you interested in helping deliver our learning programme or support our pop-up museum? Please contact [email protected]  to discuss.

Thank you....

Thank you to our primary funders, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Rothschild Foundation and HS2 for their support and flexibility to our changing delivery needs.
 
Thank you to the British Paralympic Association, Commonwealth Games, Ian McGowen, Isabel Newstead's family, Simon Stiel, Christie, Tony Balwinson and Victoria Cross for their recent donations to the NPHT collections.

Thank you to all who follow what we are doing and to those who have generously donated.

You can support our ongoing work by donating here.