January 2024

Some of these items were donated by the late Brendan Gately. Brendan was a truly remarkable man who believed in equality for all. He devoted his life to helping those with illness or disabilities of any kind. Steve Lowe, a friend of Brendan’s, and a volunteer for the NPHT, also donated personal and cherished items for this display. These, plus many others, some very personal to Steve and Brendan, have been fully donated to our collection, here at the birthplace of the Paralympics. 

Collection on display at the National Paralympic Heritage Centre.

Steve was a disabled athlete and coach, often competing here at this stadium from 1989 to 2007. Steve worked alongside Brendan taking many young adults with varying disabilities to support the Paralympics Games in Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. Steve was also a Games Maker for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London 2012. 

Steve Lowe and Brendan Gately at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Image ©Steve Lowe.

Curated by British Paralympic Association at their NPHT Corporate Away Day

Staff from the British Paralympic Association at the NPHT Corporate Away Day in November 2024.

In November 2023 the British Paralympic Association (BPA) visited us for a Corporate Away Day. During the day the BPA team took part in tours, talks and volunteered their time to help archive new items accessioned into our collection. The collection they worked on were all items from the Steve Lowe and Brendan Gately collection.  Each team were asked to choose an item that they would like to include in this display and explain why. You can read more about that here.