Stoke Mandeville welcomes Olympic Mascots for Youth Games

Stoke Mandeville Stadium welcomed more than 500 children from across Buckinghamshire on the 26th June for the Bucks Youth Games; a festival of sport for children in the run up to the 2012 Olympic Games.

Both primary and secondary children from across the county were able to try their hands at lots of different sports and get some great tips from sporting heroes Danny Crates, Paralympic Gold Medallist, Bobby White GB Handball Team Goalkeeper, Andrew Daniels GB sprint canoeist and Georgina Callingham from the Paralympic Target Shooting Squad, who were on hand throughout the day. Stoke Mandeville Stadium also welcomed special guests Wenlock and Mandeville, the official 2012 Olympic and Paralympic mascots.

Organised by the Bucks and Milton Keynes Sports Partnership (Bucks Sport), the Games has been granted the prestigious London 2012 Inspire mark, the badge of the London 2012 Inspire programme which recognises exceptional and innovative projects inspired by the London 2012 Games, and which aims to inspire young people to become a member of a local sports club and overall enjoy sport.

Seb Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, commented, “Projects like the Bucks Youth Games are enabling people in Buckinghamshire to make positive life changes.”

Blair MacGillivray, Regional Manager of Sport England commented, “‘It was a great privilege for the Leisure Connection team at Stoke Mandeville Stadium to host this major sporting event and to welcome all of the sporting heroes including Wenlock and Mandeville on their first stop before their exciting UK tour.”

Mary McAnally, LOCOG Member for the South East of England and the Deputy Chair of the South East Partnership (SEP), added: “This has been the 2012 mascots’ first visit to the South East, and what a fitting occasion they have found in the Bucks Youth Games and Stoke Mandeville. Together with the sporting champions, Wenlock and Mandeville have inspired a new generation of disabled and able-bodied young people and their communities to participate in sport under the Olympic and Paralympic values.”

The Games are not just about the young participants. This special event highlights the variety of ways everyone can get involved in sport and enjoy it. The team coaches and managers, Local Authority sports development officers, competition managers, event organisers and volunteers, and hundreds of guests, parents and spectators, all contributed to the success of the Bucks Youth Games.

Pictures kindly supplied by Amy Watters - www.amywatters.co.uk

Pictures will be available to download form the Bucks Sport website - www.buckssport.org