Britain’s role in the Paralympics
My constituent, Paul Rushton, invited me to attend an event in the House of Commons last week. Paul works for Stoke Mandeville, and the event was held to publicise an appeal for sporting wheelchairs. These can cost up to £4000 (at least) and Stoke Mandeville are hoping to fund 2012 by the time the Olympics start.
I was, of course, completely unaware that the embryonic paralympics had started at Stoke Mandeville in 1948 to coincide with the last time London held the Olympics. They became official in 1960, and are, in effect, coming home in 2012. Another example of Britain givinga sporting gift to the world.