Our Pedal to Paris team led by Dave Clarke and Andy Anson, the CEO’s of ParalympicsGB and TeamGB, are taking on a 350KM cross channel cycle ride from Stoke Mandeville to Paris to raise essential funds to support ParalympicsGB’s “Paralympic Inspiration Programme”, an initiative designed to create the Paralympic role models of tomorrow through the nurturing of future talent.

Stoke Mandeville is of course the birth place of the Paralympic movement and Paris is for the very first time hosting the Paralympic Games 2024.

The team will also feature Paralympian Clare Cunningham who heads up the Paralympic Inspiration Programme as part of her Athlete Services Role at ParalympicsGB.

ParalympicsGB’s Paralympic Inspiration Programme (PIP) is all about nurturing Future Paralympic Talent through a unique experiential and interactive programme, providing both the inspiration and the toolkit to make the crucial next step to Paralympic selection. The programme comprises seminars in the UK followed by an immersive and supported trip to the Paralympic Games designed to provide athletes with a deep understanding of the Games time environment. PIP has proved essential to Preparing upcoming athletes to be future champions. Over a third of the past programme participants have won medals at future Paralympic Games.

“PIP taught me so much, not just about the Paralympic Games but about being an elite athlete, Para sport as a whole and the Paralympic movement.” (George Peasgood, PIP alumni, Triathlon, Tokyo 2020 Silver and Bronze medallist).

Creating a Paralympic Talent Pathway is a critical priority for ParalympicsGB and particularly now given that PIP could not run during Tokyo 2020 nor Beijing 2022 due to the pandemic. The Paris 2024 programme is critical to developing the next cohort of athletes whose performances will bring home our future medals and thereby inspire the whole nation. Their performances will also create the gold dust allowing them the platform to advocate for positive change in the attitudes and behaviours experienced by disabled people both in the UK and around the world.

Dave Clarke will be completing the ride on a tandem with his longstanding pilot and huge fan of all things Paralympics, Andrew Mendoza. Nick Duggan and Steve Walker, keen supporters of Paralympic sport will also be cycling and ensuring a smooth passage for the tandem as they have done on many previous occasions.

The team will also comprise a number of ParalympicsGB team members including Jenny Seymour, Rob Tate, Barry Lloyd and Tim Thomas.

On behalf of the whole team, thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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