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Last year when Ben Whitehead was buying his Paralympic tickets he didn’t realise he’d be working on the other side of the world. Rather than sell the tickets for the athletics and swimming he decided to donate them to a couple of local disabled athletes to inspire and motivate them to reach their full potential. Ben’s father Graham contacted North Yorkshire Sport for some suggestions.

Two sisters Serenity and Poppy Howell are currently ranked third and fourth in the UK in the 100 meters T35 sprints, just missing out on ParalympicGB selection. The girls who attend and train at St Aidan’s School seemed an ideal choice to be the recipients of this very generous offer and when asked jumped at the chance. Ben was keen to give his tickets to some aspiring Paralympians to focus their training for the next 4 year selection cycle and enable them to experience the ‘buzz’ of the biggest disability sport event in the world. Not that the girls have any issues with their commitment! Although they are in the off season and have been told to take it easy by their coach, they can’t wait to get started with their gruelling training regimen, with the World Championships 2013 being their next short term goal and Rio 2016 always in mind.

When Graham met to handover the tickets their excitement bubbled over with the realisation they’d get the chance to see the best Paralympian athletes in the world, which include some of their squad members and peers.

All that’s left for North Yorkshire Sport to say is enjoy the games and the best of luck in your future sporting career girls, you have a new number 1 fan who will be tracking your progression avidly.  Thanks to Ben and Graham Whitehead for donating the tickets.  If you would like to know more about disability sport in North Yorkshire contact: Simon Pierce, Building Capacity Officer – Disability, North Yorkshire Sport. Simon.pierce@harrogate.gov.uk

	England Athletics Online store Click here to visit the Official England Athletics online store. Wear official England Athletics clothing. All 'profits' made are reinvested into the development of athletics in England

Northern Power Grid – the company that owns and operates the electricity distribution networks in Yorkshire, northern Lincolnshire and the North-east - is proud to support England Athletics through its corporate sponsorship programme.  The company are proud to sponsor the “Get Switched on to Athletics” programme which aims to help aspiring athletes from the region reach their full potential and follow their dream to compete in the 2012 Olympics and beyond.

You can visit Northern Power Grid’s England Athletics micro-site, which includes interviews with some of the region’s young athletes, training plans and a body mass index (BMI) calculator, by visiting http://athletics.northernpowergrid.com/page/index.cfm