The University of East London’s wheelchair sports project has been given £20,000 in funding

A wheelchair sports project run by the University of East London has received a £20,000 funding boost.

Chairs in the Community was launched in 2011 after receiving £40,000 from the National Lottery.

It provided the five Olympic host boroughs, including Tower Hamlets and Newham, with 40 top-of-the range sports wheelchairs to improve the provision of disability sport.

Now the UNITE Group, provider of student accommodation, has pledged £20,000 to enable students to work in partnership with the university to assist residents taking part in wheelchair sports including badminton, tennis and basketball, at council-run sports centres and community venues.

UEL’s director of Sport, David Cosford, said: “Over the past two years and certainly since the end of the London Games, we have witnessed a steady increase in the number of people expressing an interest in disability sports, and we need to keep building on that level of enthusiasm.”

The programme has delivered nearly 160 sessions across the five boroughs for more than 1,600 participants.

UEL has campuses in Stratford and the Docklands.