PARALYMPIC sprinter Ben Rushgrove will be inspiring more than 160 children to get more active in sports as varied as fencing to football at a schools event next Friday.

Ben, who is a member of City of Bath Athletic Club and TeamBath based at Bath University, has cerebral palsy and competes in T36 classification disability events.

He broke the 200m world record for his classification in 2007 and a year later took the silver medal in the 100m at the Beijing Paralympic Games.

He will be spurring on children at the Link Centre in West Swindon as they take part in a host of activities.

Swindon Wildcats players will be supporting young people on the ice, while Swindon Town’s Football in the Community team will also be running football sessions.

The event has been organised by Swindon Council’s leisure services and education support services and funded by the School Sports Partnership. The Mayor of Swindon, Coun David Wren, will be there to lend his support.

All special schools and children with visual or physical impairments from mainstream schools across the borough have been invited to the free event, from 10am until 2.30pm.

Activities on offer throughout the day include climbing, trampolining, dance, martial arts, fencing, croquet, boccia and new age kurling – a form of the original curling game, but adapted so that it can be played indoors on any smooth, flat surface, such as a sports hall, rather than on ice.

The event aims to introduce children to new activities which they may not have tried or even heard of before.

There will also be opportunities to find out how they can start practising the activity on a regular basis.

Coun Keith Williams, cabinet member for leisure and corporate services, said: “We ran a series of access days last year and they were such an overwhelming success I would encourage people to make sure they don’t miss out this year.

“The sessions are a great way for young people to try out different activities and to find out how they can take part in them on a regular basis. It is also a fun way to improve skills and fitness levels.”