Olympic Star Edwards Marks 20,000 Milestone in Disability Sports NI Education Project
24 January 2012
Olympic Gold Medalist and London 2012 Organising Committee member, Jonathon Edwards joined the Minister for Sport, Caral Ni Chulin at St Colman's Primary School on 18th January 2012 to mark the occasion of the 20,000 child to complete the '5 Star Disability Sports Challenge', Disability Sports NI's London 2012 inspired education project.
The project which is funded by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure and supported by the Department of Education has been designed to showcase disability sport in the build up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, to positively challenge commonly held negative attitudes about people with disabilities and to inspire both disabled and non disabled children to participate in sport.
During the event at St Colman’s, awareness raising presentations were delivered to the assembled children by local disabled sports stars Michael McKillop, who won a gold medal in the 800m event at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, and Aubrey Bingham and Johnny McCarthy, players from the Northern Ireland Knights Wheelchair Basketball Club. Following the presentations Disability Sports NI coaches then gave participating children the opportunity to try out a circuit of 5 different Paralympic sports.
Speaking after the event Angela Hendra MBE, Chairperson of Disability Sports NI said: “We are simply delighted with the success of the 5 Star Challenge project to date, and the positive response we have received from children and teachers in schools throughout Northern Ireland to date. We are also very pleased that Jonathon Edwards and our Minister for Sport have helped us mark the important milestone of the 20,000th child to complete the project’.
Jonathon Edwards said “I’ve been very impressed with what I’ve seen today. The presenters were excellent and successfully used the power of the London 2012 games to engage with the children, to increase their awareness of the games, to improve their understanding of disability and Paralympic sport. I congratulate Disability Sports NI on achieving such an impressive milestone’.
The Minister for Sport Caral Ni Chulin MLA said: “This inspirational programme has excited and enthused children of all abilities and backgrounds in dozens of schools across the North. As well as giving children a flavour of Paralympic sports, these young people get to meet elite athletes, hear their stories, ask questions and further their understanding.”
The project was the second in Northern Ireland to be granted the prestigious London 2012 Inspire Mark, the badge of the London 2012 Inspire programme which recognises exceptional and innovative projects inspired by the 2012 Games.
Disability Sports NI will be continuing to run the ‘5 Star Disability Sports Challenge’ in primary schools throughout Northern Ireland up to March 2013. For more information on the project contact DSNI on 028 9038 7062 or email@dsni.co.uk
>>Read the full article on the Disability Sports NI 5 Star Disability Sports Challenge on the Disability Sports NI website.
