Posted: Nov 22, 2012
Category: General
Posted by: Admin
The Battle Back Centre (Lilleshall), which provides adaptive sport and adventure training activities to enhance the recovery of wounded, injured and sick men and women from all three Services, was opened today by The Royal British Legion and the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The opening ceremony was performed by Beth Tweddle, MBE, the Olympic medallist and Britain's greatest ever gymnast, and the Right Honourable Mark Francois, Minister of State for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans.
The Battle Back Centre (Lilleshall) is funded and operated by The Royal British Legion, in partnership with the MoD. Through a partnership with Sport England, the Centre has been established at Lilleshall National Sports Centre where many Olympians, including Beth Tweddle herself, and Paralympians train - providing an inspiring environment for recovery.
Participation in sporting and outdoor activity enhances recovery. The Centre encourages participants to focus on what they can do, rather than on what they can't, to help them improve their resilience and motivation and build confidence and independence to make the best possible recovery.
The Centre can accommodate up to 24 people on each course, with 16 rooms fully equipped for those who need wheelchair access or have other needs. Since pilot courses began last year, it has helped over 200 wounded, injured and sick Service personnel and around 600 people a year can attend its multi-activity and training courses.
Activities at the Centre include wheelchair basketball, archery, indoor climbing, water sports and clay shooting, and participants often achieve things well beyond their own expectations. The Centre's coaching team help them explore how they can use this sense of achievement in other areas of their lives.
The Centre's world-class coaching expertise is provided by the Carnegie School of Sport and Carnegie Great Outdoors, both part of Leeds Metropolitan University. Independent evaluation of the programme, used for continuous improvement of the programme, is carried out by the University's Research Institute for Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure.