Channel 4 has unveiled its presenting line-up and biggest-ever broadcast plans for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games and presenters will include many of our Disability Power 100 community – including previous winners, finalists and supporters.
Actress, producer and activist Rose Ayling-Ellis (2022 DP 100 award winner and entertainment category) will present live for the first time as she hosts alongside Clare Balding from a new position inside the Athletes’ Village.
Also on the presenting team is adventurer and former rugby union player, Ed Jackson (2021 DP 100 finalist digital, media and publishing category).
Also taking part are Paralympic gold-medal swimmer Ellie Robinson MBE, (2019 and 2020 DP 100 finalist in the sport, health and wellbeing category) and George Robinson, actor and star of Netflix’s Sex Education (2023 DP 100 finalist entertainment category).
Meanwhile, expert punditry and analysis across the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will be provided by multi-Paralympic medallist Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson (2016 DP 100 overall award winner, 2019 finalist in the politics, law and media category and former chair of the DP 100).
She will be joined by former ParalympicsGB wheelchair rugby captain, Steve Brown (2023 DP 100 finalist entertainment category) and wheelchair tennis player, Louise Hunt (2018 DP 100 finalist sport, health and wellbeing category).
A mix of young and emerging talent also on the presenting list include content creator, comedian and DP 100 supporter, Fats Timbo.
When the sporting action of each day concludes, The Last Leg will take over as Alex Brooker (2018 DP 100 winner, former chair and last year’s DP100 award host), joins Adam Hills (2018 DP 100 finalist) and Josh Widdecombe, live in Paris throughout the Games.
More accessible coverage
Throughout the event this year, Channel 4 will bring viewers all the action, medals and must-see moments from every Paralympic venue across Paris, from the opening ceremony taking place on Wednesday 28 August, to the final seconds of the closing ceremony on Sunday 8 September.
In all, there will be over 1,300 hours of live sport airing for free across Channel 4, More4, Channel 4 Streaming and Channel 4 Sport’s YouTube.
For the first time this year, the channel’s back-of-house production team will be based in Cardiff where a new state-of-the-art facility is being built for the Games to house around 200 people working on Channel 4’s Paralympics coverage, including 16 disabled people from the broadcaster’s Paralympics Production Trainee Scheme.
The Paris 2024 Paralympics will be the biggest ever sports production in Wales and it is hoped the new, fully accessible hub will leave a lasting legacy for the nation.
In addition for the first time this year, Channel 4 has committed to subtitling every broadcast of live sporting action from the Games, along with all advertising, as it works to make its coverage of the Games this year the most accessible yet.
Disability Power 100 alumnus Dr Amo Raju OBE DL, is to step down from his position of CEO of Derby-based Disability Direct, one of the UK’s most respected disability charities.
Dr Raju, who has been with the charity for 30 years, will step down in three months, but he has pledged to continue to support the charity taking up a new role as an ambassador.
“Disability Direct and Amo Raju developed in tandem. Our stories are so intertwined, and I owe all I have in my life to this symbiotic relationship which took a disabled person with low self-esteem to the heights of success and confidence I enjoy today,” he says.
“Today, the charity’s balance sheet is strong and there are opportunities ahead. It is however, time for fresh leadership with ideas to take the organisation forward. I’m sure that not being in the driving seat will feel strange at first but the new role of ambassador will keep me connected to a charity which will always be at the centre of my heart.”
Trailblazer
Dr Raju, a disabled person himself, has been a trailblazer in disability services and is believed to be the longest-serving CEO of a disability charity in the UK.
His achievements include raising £30 million to support various initiatives and ensure that many vulnerable individuals have a voice and access to essential services.
As well as his award-winning work at Disability Direct, Dr Raju is also an accomplished author. His book “Walk Like A Man: From Limited to Limitless” chronicles his incredible journey and has inspired countless readers.
In addition to being named in the Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 twice, Dr Raju has been recognised with numerous awards, including the National Diversity Awards’ ‘Lifetime Achiever’ award and the Scope Disability Equality Awards’ ‘Positive Role Model’ award.
Dr Raju was a 2023 Disability Power 100 finalist in the Business & Finance category and in the Education, Public and Third Sector category in 2021.
This year’s Parallel Windsor event will take place on Sunday 7 July in the grounds of the majestic Windsor Great Park, on the iconic Long Walk.
Parallel Windsor is an annual festival of inclusivity with challenge events for all ages, health conditions and abilities.
Participants can choose from 100m, 1K, 5K, 10K or the SuperSensory 1K challenge events. Everybody who takes part gets a medal, t-shirt & goody bag.
Tickets are available to buy onsite on the day. There is also the option to purchase a Virtual Entry ticket. All Virtual entries receive a medal & t-shirt.
Many of our DP100 community will be there including Parallel’s commander-in-chief and DP100 judge Andrew Douglass and DP100 judge and Head of Nonsense for Parallel Windsor, Mark Webb.
If you are going, have a fantastic time and don’t forget to share lots of photos on socials!
Huge congratulations to members of our Disability Power 100 community who have been recognised in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours list.
These include 2023 finalist Professor Chloe Orkin who has received an MBE. Chloe is a prominent medical leader (former Chair of the British HIV Association and President of the Medical Women’s Federation) and a world-renowned HIV infectious disease researcher who has published ground-breaking research on HIV and mpox. She has published on disability in the medical and academic workforce and given podcasts on invisible disability. Chloe received her MBE for services to the NHS.
From 2022, we have No. 1 Rose Ayling Ellis who received an MBE for voluntary services to the Deaf Community.
2021 finalist Ally Castle also received an MBE for services to Inclusivity and Diversity in Broadcasting.
And Chella Quint, one of our 2024 shortlisted nominees has received an OBE. Chella is a Period Positive Campaigner, Author and Educator who received her OBE for services to Education.
Congratulations to all those who have been recognised for their work with disabled people – perhaps we’ll see some of them within the Disability Power 100 or as allies in future.
At Shaw Trust our work is guided by the social model of disability. We also support the identity model, which is closely related to the social model and emphasizes disability as a positive identity.
The social model of disability
The social model of disability recognises society runs in ways that are disabling. It says disability is created by a society that creates barriers that make life harder for disabled people. The social model says people are disabled by these barriers, not by their impairment or difference.
Barriers can be:
Physical
Buildings not having ramps or accessible toilets.
Attitudinal
Believing that disabled people can’t do certain things.
The social model helps us understand that removing these barriers improves equality and inclusion.
The social model of disability explains that impairment and disability mean different things.
An impairment is the physical or mental difficulty a person experiences. A disability is the experience of not being able to take part in society because of the barriers you face.
The social model of disability was developed by disabled people in the late 20th century, including Mike Oliver.
The identity model of disability
People who use the identity model of disability feel comfortable with their disability. They believe disability is a shared experience of society not being designed for disabled people.
The identity model of disability believes disability is about membership much like gender or race.
The identity model says people can demand equal access for themselves and everyone else. (p. 5)Brewer et al. (2012)
Talking about disability
When we talk about disability at Shaw Trust, we are inclusive of all people who experience barriers because of an impairment or medical diagnosis, including those in the Deaf and neurodiverse communities.
We appreciate that not all people identify as disabled and will always respect personal preferences.
‘When we talk about disability at Shaw Trust, we are inclusive of all people who experience barriers because of an impairment or medical diagnosis’
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