Paralympic star inspires Sussex teenagers at The Amex

Nearly a year on from his success at the London Paralympic Games, judo player Ben Quilter has been inspiring a new generation of young people at the Amex Stadium.

The 31 year old from Brighton who won a bronze medal at last year’s games and also competed in Beijing in 2008, was at the stadium delivering a motivational workshop to around 100 local 16/17-year-old students as part of Albion In The Community’s National Citizen Service (NCS) programme.

Quilter, who became Britain’s first ever visually impaired world judo champion in 2010, talked to the students for over an hour about being diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease, a rare degenerative and genetic sight condition, and his experience of being a top level paralympian.

He said: “It was fantastic to come to the Albion and be involved in such a great project. They all seemed to have got a lot out of the NCS project and really enjoyed it.

My role was really to try and give them some motivation by telling them my life story and highlighting the barriers that I have had to overcome. Hopefully they can use what I have learned and apply it to their own lives.”

NCS is the government’s largest personal and social development programme for young people giving tens of thousands of 16 and 17-year-olds the opportunity to make a positive impact in their local communities. The programme takes place over the school holidays during both the summer and autumn half-term holidays.

A record number of students from across Sussex have taken part in this summer’s Albion in the Community NSC programme. The project has seen the young people spend a week in the Peak District on an outward bounds course, take part in film making, sports coaching and communication workshops at the University of Brighton and spend a week at the stadium taking part in lessons and workshops led by AITC staff and external guest speakers.

Seventeen year-old NCS student Caveen Merideth from Brighton added: “Its been an amazing experience. I have learned so much over the last four weeks and met so many new people that have become friends. It has also given me the confidence to try lots of new things that I wouldn’t normally try.”

The students are now taking part in social action community projects for chosen local charities and will receive their NCS qualifications at a special graduation ceremony at the Amex Stadium on September 19th.

Albion in the Community will be running an autumn NCS programme during October half-term. To find out more information and how to register for NCS e-mail dan.garrett@albioninthecommunity.org.uk