WheelPower
Encyclopedia
WheelPower is the national organisation for wheelchair
sport in the United Kingdom, and aims to help people with disabilities improve their quality of life.
Formally named the British Wheelchair Sports Foundation, it is a registered charity
and is based at Stoke Mandeville Stadium
in Buckinghamshire
. Its trustees include Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE
.
The organisation was founded by the late Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann, who revolutionised the treatment of people with spinal cord injury at Stoke Mandeville Hospital
in the late 1940s. Guttmann
began using sport as a vital part of the rehabilitation of Second World War veterans and in 1948 he set up a competition between sports clubs and other hospitals to coincide with the London Olympic Games.
From those early days a worldwide sports movement has developed for not only those with spinal injuries but also many other different types of disability.
In 1952 competitors from the Netherlands took part in the competition, giving an international notion to the movement.
In 1960, the Olympics were held in Rome, and Guttmann brought 400 wheelchair athletes to the Olympic city to compete. Although officially called the 9th Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games, the Paralympics were born. The first Winter Paralympics were held in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden in 1976.
In 1984 the centre played host to the Paralympic Games
with some 1200 athletes taking part in a festival of sport.
Since 1988, the Summer Paralympics have been held in the conjunction with the Olympic Games
in the same host city and this practice was adopted in 1992 for the Winter Paralympics.
The name Paralympics derives from the Greek "para" ("beside" or "alongside") and thus refers to a competition held in parallel with the Olympic Games. No relation with paralysis or paraplegia was intended.
, WheelPower has developed a range of sports activities and nowadays works with our Sports Associations to deliver a bright future for wheelchair sport.
The provision of sporting facilities at Stoke Mandeville
started in the 1940s and in 1969 the Stoke Mandeville Stadium
was opened by Her Majesty The Queen.
In 1984 the centre played host to the Paralympic Games
with some 1200 athletes taking part in a festival of sport.
WheelPower organises a range of events to assist its Sports Associations develop wheelchair sport within the UK. WheelPower also organises a variety of opportunities for disabled children and adults, these include:
Annually hosted Games for recently paralysed patients of the 12 Spinal Units within the UK and Ireland providing coaching and an opportunity to try wheelchair sport including a fun introductory competition.
Together with a number of our Sports Associations it organises the National Wheelchair Sport Championships. Some of these events have been expanded to include an international element to provide increased competition for participants.
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
sport in the United Kingdom, and aims to help people with disabilities improve their quality of life.
Formally named the British Wheelchair Sports Foundation, it is a registered charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
and is based at Stoke Mandeville Stadium
Stoke Mandeville Stadium
Stoke Mandeville Stadium is the National Centre for Disability Sport in the United Kingdom. It is sited alongside Stoke Mandeville Hospital near Stoke Mandeville and Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire...
in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
. Its trustees include Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE
Tanni Grey-Thompson
Carys Davina "Tanni" Grey-Thompson, Baroness Grey-Thompson, DBE is a Welsh athlete and TV presenter.Grey-Thompson was born with spina bifida and uses a wheelchair. She is considered to be one of the most successful disabled athletes in the UK...
.
History
WheelPower originally formed in 1972 as the British Paraplegic Sports Society.The organisation was founded by the late Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann, who revolutionised the treatment of people with spinal cord injury at Stoke Mandeville Hospital
Stoke Mandeville Hospital
Stoke Mandeville Hospital is a large National Health Service hospital within Aylesbury Urban Area to the south of the town of Aylesbury, near the village of Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire...
in the late 1940s. Guttmann
Guttmann
Guttmann is a surname. It may refer to the following people:* Béla Guttmann , Hungarian football player and coach* Jakob Guttmann , German rabbi and religious Zionism philosopher...
began using sport as a vital part of the rehabilitation of Second World War veterans and in 1948 he set up a competition between sports clubs and other hospitals to coincide with the London Olympic Games.
From those early days a worldwide sports movement has developed for not only those with spinal injuries but also many other different types of disability.
In 1952 competitors from the Netherlands took part in the competition, giving an international notion to the movement.
In 1960, the Olympics were held in Rome, and Guttmann brought 400 wheelchair athletes to the Olympic city to compete. Although officially called the 9th Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games, the Paralympics were born. The first Winter Paralympics were held in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden in 1976.
In 1984 the centre played host to the Paralympic Games
Paralympic Games
The Paralympic Games are a major international multi-sport event where athletes with a physical disability compete; this includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and Cerebral Palsy. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which are held immediately following their...
with some 1200 athletes taking part in a festival of sport.
Since 1988, the Summer Paralympics have been held in the conjunction with the Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
in the same host city and this practice was adopted in 1992 for the Winter Paralympics.
The name Paralympics derives from the Greek "para" ("beside" or "alongside") and thus refers to a competition held in parallel with the Olympic Games. No relation with paralysis or paraplegia was intended.
The future of WheelPower
Since the early days of GuttmannGuttmann
Guttmann is a surname. It may refer to the following people:* Béla Guttmann , Hungarian football player and coach* Jakob Guttmann , German rabbi and religious Zionism philosopher...
, WheelPower has developed a range of sports activities and nowadays works with our Sports Associations to deliver a bright future for wheelchair sport.
The provision of sporting facilities at Stoke Mandeville
Stoke Mandeville
Stoke Mandeville is a village and also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district to the south-east of Aylesbury in the county of Buckinghamshire, England. Although a separate civil parish, the village falls within the Aylesbury Urban Area...
started in the 1940s and in 1969 the Stoke Mandeville Stadium
Stoke Mandeville Stadium
Stoke Mandeville Stadium is the National Centre for Disability Sport in the United Kingdom. It is sited alongside Stoke Mandeville Hospital near Stoke Mandeville and Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire...
was opened by Her Majesty The Queen.
In 1984 the centre played host to the Paralympic Games
Paralympic Games
The Paralympic Games are a major international multi-sport event where athletes with a physical disability compete; this includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and Cerebral Palsy. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which are held immediately following their...
with some 1200 athletes taking part in a festival of sport.
WheelPower organises a range of events to assist its Sports Associations develop wheelchair sport within the UK. WheelPower also organises a variety of opportunities for disabled children and adults, these include:
- Inter Spinal Unit Games
Annually hosted Games for recently paralysed patients of the 12 Spinal Units within the UK and Ireland providing coaching and an opportunity to try wheelchair sport including a fun introductory competition.
- National Wheelchair Sport Championships
Together with a number of our Sports Associations it organises the National Wheelchair Sport Championships. Some of these events have been expanded to include an international element to provide increased competition for participants.
WheelPower sports
WheelPower supports, among others, the following sports:- ArcheryArcheryArchery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
- AthleticsAthletics (track and field)Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
- Wheelchair BasketballWheelchair basketballWheelchair basketball is basketball played by people in wheelchairs and is considered one of the major disabled sports practiced. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee as the sole...
- BowlsBowlsBowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex or uneven...
- Cue Sports
- FencingFencingFencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
- Hand Cycling
- Power LiftingPowerliftingPowerlifting is a strength sport. It resembles the sport of Olympic weightlifting, as both disciplines involve lifting weights in three attempts. Powerlifting evolved from a sport known as 'odd lifts' which followed the same three attempt format but used a wide variety of events akin to Strongman...
- Wheelchair racingWheelchair racingWheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, amputees, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy and partially sighted . Athletes are classified in accordance with the nature and severity of their...
- RacquetballRacquetballFor other sports often called "paddleball", see Paddleball .Racquetball is a racquet sport played with a hollow rubber ball in an indoor or outdoor court...
- RugbyWheelchair rugbyWheelchair rugby, , is a team sport for athletes with a disability. It is currently practiced in over twenty countries around the world and is a Paralympic sport....
- ShootingShootingShooting is the act or process of firing rifles, shotguns or other projectile weapons such as bows or crossbows. Even the firing of artillery, rockets and missiles can be called shooting. A person who specializes in shooting is a marksman...
- Sledge HockeySledge hockeySledge hockey is a sport that was designed to allow participants who have a physical disability to play the game of ice hockey. Ice sledge hockey was invented in the early 1960s in Stockholm, Sweden at a rehabilitation center...
- SwimmingSwimming (sport)Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
- Table TennisTable tennisTable tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
- TennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
- Winter Sports