A Dunstable charity champion is fired up with enthusiasm for a vital role in the lead-up to the Paralympic Games.
Mick Dillon, chief executive of the Disability Resource Centre, has been chosen as the Paralympic Ambassador for Beds and Luton.
The opening ceremony of the Games will feature a Paralympic Flame, to be created at Stoke Mandeville from the union of four flames lit in UK capital cities.
And Mick’s first task is a trip to Trafalgar Square on August 24, to bring the London flame back to Dunstable on behalf of Central Beds.
The flame will be on show at a “Flame Festival” at the Disability Resource Centre, in Poynters Road, from 9.30am-12.30pm on Sunday, August 26.
This free family event, open to everyone, will include a jazz band, exhibits and activities suitable for disabled and non-disabled people.
Mick, a wheelchair user, said: “Sport is becoming a catalyst for narrowing the gap between disabled and non-disabled people in 21st century Britain, and builds on the greater choice and control that disabled people are beginning to have in their everyday lives.”
After the festival, the flame will go to Stoke Mandeville. Once all four flames have been united, a 24-hour torch relay will take it to London for the opening ceremony on August 29.
> For information about the festival or the centre, call 01582 470900 or go to www.drcbeds.org.uk.
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