Disability sport gets £3.5m as 2012 Paralympics legacy

Disability sports will get £3.5m as part of the government's "legacy" plans for the 2012 Paralympic Games. Minister for Disabled People Jonathan Shaw said the investment was a step towards achieving "disability equality by 2025" for 10 million people. Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said the plans would increase employment opportunities and develop "a greater appreciation of disability issues". The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has backed the move.

Sport England will invest £1.5m of the total amount in the English Federation of Disability Sport to increase participation and opportunities for disabled people. The remaining £2m of targeted National Lottery funding will be made available for nine disability sports organisations. A further £8m has been set aside by Sport England for investment over the next two years.

Mr Shaw said: "It is vital that disabled people benefit from the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity presented by the games. It's the opportunity to make a real and lasting change, to showcase disabled people's talents, not just in the sporting field but through employment, through positive role models and through the 2012 disability arts programme."

Ms Jowell said: "We want the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to showcase a Britain without barriers. "Our legacy plan for disabled people aims to make a real difference to the way disabled people live their lives every day."

Xavier Gonzalez, chief executive officer the IPC said: "With such a plan, the Paralympic Games can become the 'springboard' to push the agenda forward. It is also great to see that the plan is targeting really long term, far beyond the London 2012 Games."

The funding boost comes as London 2012 organisers and Arts Council England announced a £400,000 funding for 10 art projects by disabled artists to mark the games. A live symphony combining warning sirens and choral music by a learning disabled artist from Yorkshire, a street art performance inspired by Blake's poem Jerusalem by disabled artists from London and a portrayal of the lives of conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker are among the selected projects.