Ahead of National Paralympic Day, which falls on 26 July, Alliance CEO, Emma Boggis talks about the impact of the day and how you can get involved in national and regional events.
One of the legacies from the London 2012 Paralympics has been the emergence and establishment of National Paralympic Day (NPD). The British Paralympic Association (BPA) is responsible for delivering and managing NPD and with funding originally from the Big Lottery Fund and now from the Spirit of 2012 Trust. The event is becoming a key event in the calendar with many Alliance members playing their part in making it successful and with just over a year to go until the start of Rio 2016 it provides a great chance to show support for our paralympians again.
The format of NPD2015 will follow the same successful model from the previous two years. A celebration event in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (QEOP) featuring an International Elite Sport competition and a range of free come & try sporting activities combined with the opportunity to meet ParalympicsGB star athletes and attend Q & A sessions. NPD will partner once more with the Mayor of London’s free disability arts festival, Liberty which takes place in the Park on the same day.
The Celebration event in London will provide the inspiration for regional activity across the UK, to include a series of events delivered by the BPA as well as a social media campaign and the opportunity for people to celebrate NPD by hosting activities in their own communities.
Celebration Event – QEOP, Sunday 26th July
Taking advantage of the opportunity to have an athletics event as part of NPD, the BPA are partnering with British Athletics and the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games who are hosting the IPC Grand Prix athletics final in the former Olympic stadium on the same day. In addition to this, the BPA will deliver, with British Swimming, a GB vs Rest of World team para-swimming competition in the London Aquatics Centre, based on the event hosted at NPD in 2014. Taking place just 1 week after the IPC World Swimming Championships in Glasgow it will feature the best para-swimmers from across the world. Highlights of the NPD swimming competition and other activities will be included as part of the live broadcast by Channel 4 of the IPC Grand Prix Final. In addition Channel 4 will produce a 1 hour NPD highlights package to be broadcast 1 week after the event.
Regional Activity
The BPA is also delivering NPD events in Brighton, Nottingham & Plymouth on Saturday 25th July. These events will combine come & try sporting experiences with the opportunity to learn about the incredible achievements of ParalympicsGB’s athletes as well as the chance to meet local medal winning athletes and future Paralympic hopefuls.
Additionally, the BPA have produced a toolkit to encourage people to host their own NPD events and help them promote their activity. There will also be a major social media campaign using the hashtag #NPD2015 so people can show their support and join in the celebrations.
You can find further information, including how to buy tickets for the Athletics and Swimming events, by visiting www.paralympics.org.uk/NPD2015
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