Kokova Magazine

Have A Go sports are among the activities that will be on offer as a West Sussex piece of the Paralympic Flame arrives in Horsham this Saturday (25th August).

A Flame Celebration Event, led by Horsham District Council on behalf of the Ahead of the Game partnership, will take place in Horsham Park to celebrate its arrival and the activities start at 10:30am.

Sussex table tennis star and future Paralympian hopeful Tyler Paul has been chosen as the West Sussex Flame Ambassador and will travel to London to bring back the piece of the Flame in a lantern.

Activities will include a carnival procession, an enormous painted Paralympic panel created by local artists, taster sport activities, live bands, DJs, dance workshops, dance performances, welcome flag making workshops and the Blue Touch Paper integrated samba band 'Boom Tribe'.

The programme of activities will be delivered in partnership between Horsham District Council, Gary Marlow Sports and DC Leisure and will include Goalball, Boccia, blind football, table tennis, athletics, cricket and gymnastics. All the sessions will be free, fully inclusive and will run from 10:30am to 12:15pm.

Balloonatic, the UK's most extreme balloon artistes, will also be there at the event in Horsham Park.

The troupe can be seen all over the UK, spreading their unique brand of balloon lunacy in their wonderful and beautiful costumes.

At 12:15pm, a carnival parade will be led by Tyler Paul and Michael Hobbs, a local disabled athlete and volunteer, who between them will carry the Paralympic Lantern.

The Chairman of Horsham District Council, Cllr Leonard Crosbie, and West Sussex County Council’s Deputy Leader, Lionel Barnard, will then officially welcome the Flame on a temporary stage near to Park House in Horsham Park at 12:30pm.

Entertainment by leading disabled bands, including the Coasters, will continue until 2:30pm.

Horsham can be very proud that a piece of the Paralympic Flame is coming to the Horsham District and West Sussex. Horsham District Council has always placed inclusion and accessibility high on its agenda and the Horsham Flame Celebration will be a fantastic opportunity for local groups and individuals to come together and celebrate a global event like the Paralympic Games and all it stands for.

Cllr Sue Rogers, Horsham District Council's Cabinet Member for a Safer & Healthier District

The event also marks the start of the new autumn schedule for the Aiming High for Disabled Children programme. More details can be found at www.horsham.gov.uk

The Paralympic Flame Celebration Event is led by Horsham District Council as part of the Ahead of the Game Festival, a countywide initiative helping people in West Sussex make the most of the London 2012 Games.