about / how we do it
LGPSF
Ludwig Guttmann Paraplegic Sports Foundation (LGPSF)
The development of new sport, involving more people with a disability, keeping up with technology and providing effective management of sports remains as high a priority now than at any time since Para sport was pioneered by Sir Ludwig Guttmann in the 1940s and 1950s.
The Ludwig Guttmann Paraplegic Sports Foundation (LGPSF) is determined to continue this work through donations distributed as grants to organisations around the world.
Grants
The LGPSF offers small grants to organisations looking to develop wheelchair sports.
Grants are available via an annual Grant Support Programme which closes each April.
Applicants must complete the relevant forms and include an outline proposal, projected outcomes and an itemised budget.
For more information, including how to apply and terms and conditions, please click here
The work of the LGPSF
Over the past 40 years the LGPSF has supported many projects, including:
- Study group for classification of wheelchair athletics
- Publication of the Electric Wheelchair Hockey Handbook
- Guttmann Event and Games Management System concept
- Part-funding of developing countries to attend competitions
- Contribution to IWAS Wheelchair Fencing education and accreditation classifiers.
History of the LGPSF
The LGPSF was founded in 1982, two years after the death of Sir Ludwig, by people who worked tirelessly alongside him, including Joan Scruton MBE.
Dr. Guttmann arrived in Britain in 1939, as a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany. Thanks to his medical background in neurology the British government commissioned him as the director of the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, Great Britain. He was given complete control of the treatment for his patients and was soon able to develop his own method of caring for his patients in wheelchairs.
His revolutionary ideas on rehabilitation created the starting point for the Paralympic Movement, which began in the humble grounds of Stoke Mandeville Hospital. It began with team games between patients but soon developed to what became known as the Stoke Mandeville Games, with the first games held in 1948.
For more information about the history of the Paralympic Movement, click here.