Celebrate the Commonwealth Games with See My Voice’s Parasports Festival!
As part of the See My Voice programme, British Blind Sport, UK Deaf Sport and Sport Birmingham will host an exciting Parasports Festival on Friday 19th August 2022 from 11am-4pm at Nechells Wellbeing Centre, Rupert Street, Birmingham, B7 4AR. The free event will allow young people with a disability aged 10-20 and their families to try a variety of sports featured at the Commonwealth Games in a welcoming environment and help them feel a part of the Birmingham 2022 legacy.
Birmingham 2022 has confirmed the largest parasport programme in Commonwealth Games history and intends to set new standards for creativity, inclusivity and sustainability to leave an indelible mark on the region and inspire the next generation. The See My Voice Parasports Festival is the perfect opportunity for children and young people with a disability in Birmingham and the surrounding area who have been inspired by the Games to try adapted sports and learn about inclusive opportunities that they can continue to enjoy and participate in after the event. This year’s cohort of See My Voice Young Leaders will host the sports sessions, along with inclusive coaches, to help them put their newly formed leadership skills into practice and act as role models for the young people attending.
Connor Fellows, See My Voice Delivery Officer said,
“The Commonwealth Games promise to be a truly inclusive and unforgettable 11 days of sport. We’re delighted to be giving young people and our Young Leaders the chance to try out the different parasports featured at the Games, with the hope that they'll discover a new interest or hobby that will lead to new opportunities or pathways.”
Melanie Piper, See My Voice Lead Officer said,
“We are excited to be working with Sport Birmingham and UK Deaf Sport to host See My Voice’s Parasports Festival. We look forward to continuing our strategy to ‘scale up‘ the impact of See My Voice and create more opportunities for young people with disabilities to participate in sport and volunteering.”
The See My Voice programme enables young people with disabilities to achieve leadership skills through volunteering. Since its inception in 2018, the programme has supported 159 blind and partially sighted young people to contribute over 2650 hours of their time to help facilitate sports clubs, events and organisations across the UK. Following this success, the programme was selected by Sport England as one of only five organisations to ‘scale up’ the programme. BBS has been collaborating with UK Deaf Sport and Sport Birmingham to empower more young people with other impairments and influence organisations that provide volunteer opportunities to adopt more inclusive practices, with the goal of making disability inclusion the norm in the sports sector and beyond.
Registration for the event is open. The registration form is available on the British Blind Sport website.
If you have any queries about the event or would like any more information on the project, please email Connor Fellows, See My Voice Delivery Officer at or visit the British Blind Sport website.
BBS is always grateful for the help of volunteers at events. Please get in touch if you can spare some time to help attendees enjoy the day fully.
See My Voice Parasports Festival Poster 2022 (PDF, 2 MB)
See My Voice Commonwealth Parasports Festival Poster Plain Text (DOCX, 15 KB)
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