A NEW exhibition about the Paralympics and disability sport is coming to Keighley.

Cliffe Castle Museum will next summer host the exhibition of memorabilia and stories surrounding local people’s involvement in such sports.

A call has gone out to Keighley people to pass on their experiences of how they have been inspired by disability sport.

Memorabilia – such as tickets, medals, clothing, photos, programmes and personal stories – could be included in the display.

Organisers would also love to record interviews from past Paralympians, athletes, coaches, officials and families who have been part of the Paralympic and disability sports journey so far.

The aim is to celebrate local disability sport and Paralympic history, alongside wider local disability history.

The exhibition will also raise awareness of disability heritage, activity and opportunity and inspire people to take up a disability sport or support it.

Lothersdale archer Danielle Brown is a double Paralympic gold medallist, while Keighley paratriathlete Stuart Meikle was last year chosen for the UK’s Paralympic squad.

Keighley athletes with learning disabilities have a strong record of success in the Special Olympics National and World Games..

The exhibition, which will open at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery in Bradford in January, is being devised by the National Paralympic Heritage Trust (NPHT) and Bradford Council.

The roots of disability sport lie in the 1940s at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, when Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann encouraged wounded war veterans to play sport as an aid to rehabilitation from spinal injury.

This led to local competitions, the Stoke Mandeville Games and in turn the birth of the Paralympic movement. Today, the Paralympic Games attracts national and international public support and interest.

But what lies beneath these events is a national story of people coming together from across the UK to learn, support and compete together at a national and international level in sport. They were directly influenced by their own community, at a local club and with the support of their friends and families.

The NPHT feels these stories are as much part of the history of the Paralympic movement.

All people are welcome to the free exhibition launch at Cartwright Hall on January 26 at 1pm and 3pm where refreshments are served. Email timcurtistartics@gmail.com if you have any memorabilia you’d like to contribute to the exhibition.