Paralympic Champ coming to St Ives - June 10 - Press Releases - LIVING SPORT

Paralympic Champ coming to St Ives - June 10

With just three days until the Fifa World Cup kicks off in South Africa another special event will be taking place on Friday 11 June. Over 600 young people will be competing for their school at the Youth Games PLUS in St Ives, Cambridgeshire. For the majority of the young people, who all have some kind of impairment or additional needs, this will be the pinnacle of their sporting year.

The Youth Games PLUS is organised by LIVING SPORT and is in its fifth year and has grown to become the biggest countywide multi sport festival in the region. The Games will be extra special this year as Danny Crates, Paralympic Athletics Champion, will be opening the Games and then watch competitors battle it out for honours in Athletics, Boccia, Cricket, Netball and Tag Rugby, at One Leisure St Ives Outdoor Centre.

Danny said "I’m delighted to be asked to attend the Youth Games Plus.  It’s fantastic to see a sporting event that will give participants with disabilities the chance to not only try many sporting activities, but also compete against each other on a county level.  I will certainly be on the lookout for future Paralympians"

The Games, organised by LIVING SPORT on behalf of the County Disability Sports Forum, are supported by the Tesco Charity Trust, Cambridge Building Society, Donarbon, John Lewis Partnership, Cambridgeshire Community Foundation, Perkins Engines and Cambridgeshire County Council has attracted more participants than ever before from  a record 20 schools including mainstream and special schools across all ages.

The Games also include a Taster Village where over 140 young people will try taster sessions in Archery, Climbing Wall, supplied by Grafham Water Centre, with Table Cricket, New age Kurling, Sensory Games , Tri Golf, Mini Tennis and Racquet skills.

Rebecca Gilbertson, from LIVING SPORT said “The Youth Games PLUS is a great event.  Schools come back year after year to enjoy the amazing atmosphere and fun competition.  We want as many young people as possible to be able to take part in one of the biggest disability sports festivals in the region”

For more information, images and interviews, or to visit the Games please contact Rebecca Gilbertson, Events Coordinator, on 01487 849929 and Rebecca.Gilbertson@livingsport.co.uk  or Amanda Callard, Development Manager, on 01487 849925 or amanda.callard@livingsport.co.uk.

Notes to Editors:

Youth Games PLUS gives students with disabilities or additional needs a chance to compete against other students with similar needs at county level in their chosen sport, as well as having fun and enjoying taking part in sport. The Games are open to anybody who is a pupil within a school in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and has a disability or additional needs (physical, sensory or learning). The Games will take place between 10.00 – 14.00 on Friday 11 June at One Leisure St Ives Outdoor centre.

The County Disability Sports Forum is a group of representatives from Local Authorities, Schools, and Disability organization whose aim is: ‘To foster and promote provision of sporting and active recreation opportunities for people with disabilities and special needs within Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. To support and assist people with disabilities by enhancing opportunities to participate, organise, volunteer, coach and develop them through sport. To support events, bring key groups and partners together across the county’.

LIVING SPORT is the County Sports Partnership for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. It is one of 49 in the country, promoting and encouraging sports and physical activity at all levels across all age groups. We want more people to take part in sport and physical activity and LIVING SPORT’s vision is “active, and healthy communities where everyone can play, achieve and enjoy”. Our aim is to work with a wide range of individuals and organisations involved in sport, bringing them together to form one powerful voice for sport in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

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