Stoke Mandeville Stadium sports hall reopens following £240,000 refurbishment

Date: 28 June 2023

The Cazenove Sports Hall at Stoke Mandeville Stadium re-opened in June 2023 following the installation of a state-of-the-art new Flexi-Beam Premium Oak floor.

The sports hall was re-opened at WheelPower’s 2023 National Junior Games by WheelPower President, the Hon Mrs Mark Vestey and WheelPower’s Chair, Rob Wilson (pictured below)

The new floor was funded by generous donations from HS2 Community and Business Fund, Buckinghamshire Council, David Barnett, Cazenove Charitable Trust, King / Cullimore Charitable Trust, Stratton No. 2 Charitable Fund, Mayhew Charitable Trust, Fairhive, Loveday Charitable Trust, The E M MacAndrew Charitable Trust, the Doris Field Charitable Trust and Dynamik Sports Flooring and the installation supported by More Leisure Community Trust/Serco Leisure.

From 27-30 June over 90 disabled children took part in the life changing WheelPower National Junior Games, at the birthplace of the Paralympic movement, Stoke Mandeville Stadium. The new sports hall floor was given its first test as the participants got to try 19 sports, from wheelchair basketball, to badminton, powerchair football and archery.

In addition to providing WheelPower, local clubs and disability sports organisations with ‘first-class’ facilities, the sports hall will also be used every day for a wide range of community sports including netball, football and basketball.

Andy White, coach at the Stoke Mandeville based Aces Wheelchair Basketball Club commented, “The new sports hall floor is fantastic and has been a real noticeable improvement during our training sessions. We are looking forward to playing our first league game on it when the season returns!”

Rob Wilson, WheelPower’s Chair said “We are delighted to re-open the sports hall here at Stoke Mandeville Stadium following the £240,000 refurbishment, and are extremely grateful to our generous donors for their support. I would like to give special thanks to our Patron, David Barnett, who together with the Cazenove Charitable Trust were funders of the original Sports Hall in 2003, so it is wonderful that David and the Trust have continued to support this vital facility. The sports hall will provide opportunities for many thousands of disabled people and members of the local opportunity to lead active lives”.

Brian Taylor, Chair of More Leisure Community Trust commented,“The sports hall flooring looks fantastic since the upgrade, and looks certain to get plenty of use from all sectors of the community at this iconic venue.”