At the moment the work of Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann is celebrated in a portrait at Stoke Mandeville Stadium and the main sports centre building named in his honour.

The National Paralympic Heritage Trust has secured a £77,000 grant from the AIM Biffa Award ‘History Makers’ Programme; a multi-million pound fund that helps to build communities and transform lives through awarding grants to community and environmental projects across the UK, as part of the Land ll Communities Fund. Further funds have also been achieved through the Heritage Lottery Fund, Rothschild Foundation, Aylesbury Community Chest and Heart of Bucks. The Trust will use the funding to help create a new heritage centre to display objects, documents and stories, with a particular focus on mapping out the remarkable story of Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann, the pioneer of the British Paralympic movement from 1943 to the present day through interactive displays, video, handling collections and learning programmes.

Currently archives and collections are in storage with no suitable display cabinets or designated space at Stoke Mandeville Stadium. The funding is enabling the Trust to hire professional museum designers and learning consultants to create displays so that the local community can enjoy and celebrate this important area of their heritage for the first time.

Martin McElhatton chief executive WheelPower said “WheelPower, as a founding member of NPHT and owners of Stoke Mandeville Stadium, are delighted that there will be a new heritage centre providing an opportunity to share the incredible stories of Sir Ludwig and the early pioneers of Paralympic sport. It will provide a fantastic visitor experience and increase awareness about the Paralympic Movement and its origins at Stoke Mandeville.”

Vicky Hope-Walker, Project Manager said “It will be wonderful to see, touch and hear all about the medical pioneering work of Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann, those supporting his work and those individuals and early athletes benefitting from his drive, inspiration and vision. It will provide a great opportunity for local communities to share their own stories, to use the information to celebrate their heritage and for schools to use the resources as part of their Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) curriculum”.

The NPHT is inviting people to share any of their own memorabilia and stories for documenting as part of the project. More information can be found on the National Paralympic Heritage Trust website at www.paralympicheritage.org.uk.

If you would like to volunteer as a Paralympic Heritage Ambassador please contact
katy-jayne.lintott@paralympicheritage.org.uk.

About the Biffa Award

Since 1997, Biffa Award has awarded grants totaling more than £165 million to thousands of worthwhile community and environmental projects across the UK. The programme administers money donated by Biffa Group Ltd through the Land ll Communities Fund.

www.biffa-award.org

Land ll Communities Fund

The Land ll Communities Fund (LCF) is an innovative tax credit scheme enabling operators (LOs) to contribute money to organisations enrolled with ENTRUST as Environmental Bodies (EBs). EBs use this funding for a wide range of community and environmental projects in the vicinity of land ll sites. LOs are able to claim a credit (currently 4.2%) against their land ll tax liability for 90% of the contributions they make.

Since its inception in 1996, over £1.4 billion has been spent on more than 51,000 projects across the UK. For further information please visit www.entrust.org.uk or see HMRC’s general guide to land ll tax.

Association of Independent Museums (AIM)

The Association of Independent Museums (AIM) is a national charitable organisation which helps independent and independently spirited museums, galleries and heritage sites prosper by connecting, supporting and representing them.

AIM’s membership ranges from voluntarily run community organisations to some of the largest museums in the country and includes museums, historic houses, heritage organisations, ships and historic railways as well as museum consultants and commercial suppliers.

AIM provides an independent viewpoint based on operational and business experience of running successful enterprises for public benefit. New members are always welcome to join AIM’s thriving network to learn from their colleagues and to share their expertise.

About the National Paralympic Heritage Trust

The National Paralympic Heritage Trust (NPHT) has been established ‘to enlighten and inspire future generations by celebrating, cherishing and bringing the Paralympic heritage and its stories of human endeavour to life’. The heritage tells the history of a remarkable movement beginning with the arrival of Dr Guttmann as a Jewish refugee from Germany in 1943 through to the many individual who have been part of the movement. It is a journey that has had profound effects on the lives of many disabled people and their families. It has led the way in changing attitudes towards disabled people and influenced the development of new medical, scientific and engineering technologies to better support them. It is a tale still unfolding with further significant developments during and since the success of London 2012.

The four founding members of the National Paralympic Heritage Trust are the British Paralympic Association, WheelPower – British Wheelchair Sport, Aylesbury Vale District Council, and Buckinghamshire County Council. Contributing partners include the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation, the National Spinal Injuries Centre, Buckinghamshire County Museum Trust and the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies.

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