Paralympian launches Edge Hill University's Diversity Week

Paralympian Mark Eccleston is the guest of honour at Edge Hill University's CONNECT Diversity Week 2010.

The silver medal-winning tennis player will officially open the week-long event which runs from Monday 1 February to Friday 5 February.

Diversity Week is part of the CONNECT project which was set-up five years ago by Aim Higher and Student Services at Edge Hill. The project was created to combat social exclusion on campus, and raise awareness of diversity issues.

Mark Eccleston was born in St Helens and was hoping for a successful rugby league career when his life was changed forever by a childhood prank. He somersaulted into a haystack -which he says was nothing compared to some of the Jackass-style stunts he tried as a child - but, this time, he landed badly, severing his spinal cord. As a result he is now tetraplegic and a full time wheelchair user. Emotionally, Mark hit rock bottom, even wishing his life was over, but during his seven month stay in a specialist rehabilitation unit he was introduced to wheelchair sports and discovered he could still find success as an athlete.

He won gold in table tennis at the 1987 National Wheelchair Games then tried Wheelchair Rugby, leading Great Britain in two international finals and the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics. After Atlanta he took up wheelchair tennis, winning seven national titles and Paralympic silver, and becoming the first British player to be ranked number one in the singles and doubles world rankings. He is now a motivational speaker, teaches PE in a special needs school, and is a disability sports officer in Halton.

Mark said: "I've been as low as you can get - and I've been as high as you can get. I was the best in the world. Just because someone has a disability, doesn't mean they can't do anything - there are ways around everything. I want to raise awareness of this by speaking not only to the public, but to the coaches and the mentors of the future. It is alarming when I go in to some mainstream schools that some teachers have no knowledge of disabled sports. I want to motivate everyone I speak to - they can go and achieve their goals."

Other attractions during this year's Diversity Week event include taster sessions in British Sign Language, a demonstration from Guide Dogs for the Blind and Southport Hearing Dogs, and classes and culture sessions including Urdu Chinese and Russian. There will also be presentations by charitable organisations and those dealing with dyslexia, faith, domestic violence, self harm and gender and sexuality, as well as a variety of theatre and film showings.

For the full listings visit www.edgehill.ac.uk/connect/timetable and to book a place email connect@edgehill.ac.uk or call 01695 584322.