Big legacy backing with National Paralympic Day funding

2 Sep 2013 02:21 PM

The Big Lottery Fund is announcing further backing for the London Games legacy today with support for a new National Paralympic Day and activities across the UK.

Chair of the Fund, Peter Ainsworth, is announcing funding of £348,000 to support National Paralympic Day on Saturday 7 September.

The Fund’s support for National Paralympic Day comes from its £8 million ‘Keeping the Spirit of 2012 Alive’ initiative that aims to take forward the positive community impact of the events of the London 2012 Games for communities across the UK.

National Paralympic Day, organised by the British Paralympic Association (BPA), is designed to build on the incredible power, success and energy of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Members of the public will be able to try out a number of Paralympic sports, including Equestrian, Football 5-a-side and Powerlifting, in addition to a number of community sports activities.

ParalympicsGB athletes from London 2012 will also be on hand to showcase  four sports – Boccia, Table Tennis, Sitting Volleyball and Wheelchair Basketball - at the free event in the Copperbox on the Queen Elizabeth Park.

For those not able to make it to London, a campaign will be taking place in communities across the UK that will see disability sports clubs offering 'come and try' sessions and a schools competition will be promoted to all 26,500 schools registered with Get Set, the official education programme of the British Olympic and Paralympic Associations.

The BIG Lottery Fund has also set up the Spirit of 2012 Trust to develop and extend the influence of the legacy of 2012. The Fund has pledged that all the money it receives from the sale of the Olympic Village, likely to be up to £40 million, will be committed to the Spirit of 2012 Trust.

In addition, the Fund has already invested in several projects that will continue to inspire a generation and build on the legacy of the London 2012 Games for UK communities.

Peter Ainsworth, Chair of the Big Lottery Fund, said: “The community spirit, cohesion and participation the nation experienced during the Olympics and Paralympics was the inspiration behind the creation of the Spirit of 2012 Trust.  By supporting National Paralympic Day we hope to reconnect and celebrate this country’s positive approach to disability. National Paralympic Day will be a reminder of the admiration, respect and sheer astonishment we all felt when watching the sporting excellence of the Paralympians, even more so now we can attempt some of the events ourselves."

Tim Reddish, Chair of the British Paralympic Association welcomed the difference the funding will make: “Last year’s Paralympic Games inspired the nation in many ways and, as the guardians of the Paralympic movement here in the UK, we want to keep that momentum going. National Paralympic Day is a fantastic opportunity to remind the country of the achievements of our athletes and to celebrate the positive spirit of inclusion that was so strong in 2012. We are absolutely delighted that the Big Lottery Fund has come on board to support the day and ensure that we can continue to build on all that was achieved.”

Spirit of 2012 trustee Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, said: “It is really important that flowing from National Paralympic Day, to communities and schools across the UK, will be activities that continue to share and build awareness and understanding and give a real sense of the issues facing disabled people in order to achieve a step-change in positive attitudes to disability and impairment.”
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Notes to editors

    
The Big Lottery Fund, the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.

Keeping the Spirit of 2012 Alive is a Big Lottery Fund £8 million initiative to take forward the positive impact of the events of the London 2012 Games for communities across the UK. Announcements on further successful projects are due to be made in the early Autumn.

In May 2013 the Big Lottery Fund also announced an investment of £5.3m into 4 nationwide legacy  projects:
• The Join In Trust - Join In will use £1.5 million grant to build on the expertise and enthusiasm on the 2012 Games. An event on the 19th July at Queen Elizabeth Park brought all London 2012 volunteers back together and inspired them to get out into their local community.
• Get Set -  the London 2012 domestic education programme in schools and colleges across the country, to build on and share the inspiration of the Olympic and Paralympic Values to create positive social change.
• Sustrans Pedal on UK – with an award of £360, 000 the cycling event has been travelling along many of the newly opened walking and cycling routes on the National Cycling Network, joined by Olympians and Paralympians. Communities across the UK have been visited and there will be a grand finale in Glasgow on the 7th September.
• Britain’s Personal Best - an initiative which, inspired by 2012, aims to create a new, iconic national event where everyone in the UK can take part.

The Big Lottery Fund is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. Since its inception in 2004 BIG has awarded close to £6bn.
The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.

Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £30 billion has now been raised and more than 400,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.

The British Paralympic Association
The British Paralympic Association is the National Paralympic Committee for the UK, responsible for the promotion of the Paralympic movement in Great Britain and selecting, entering and funding the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Paralympic team.
 
ParalympicsGB is the name for the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Paralympic Team that competes at the summer and winter Paralympic Games. The Team is selected and managed by the British Paralympic Association, in conjunction with the national governing bodies,  and is made up of the best sportsmen and women who compete in the 22 summer and four winter sports on the Paralympic Programme.
 
There is only one Paralympic team from Great Britain and Northern Ireland; ParalympicsGB. There is not a Paralympic swimming team or Paralympic tennis team. The individual sports join to become ParalympicsGB, the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Paralympic Team.
 
We are proud of our tradition of outstanding performance at the Paralympic Games: ParalympicsGB finished second in the medals table at three consecutive summer Paralympic Games and won 120 medals at London 2012.
 
The BPA would like to thank the National Lottery and our official partners BP, BT, Deloitte, EDF Energy, Mondelēz International, Nissan and Sainsbury’s for their support.