WHARF Green was transformed into a hive of sporting activity in honour of the Paralympic Games this weekend. About 60 people had a go at goalball, seated volleyball and boccia on Saturday. The Paralympics were also shown on the Big Screen, while budding athletes got to grips with the unusual sports. Doug Imrie, coaching co-ordinator, said: “These are all Paralympic sports, and this event is just to let local people come and have a go at the activities that they might not have had a chance to before. “It is an opportunity to showcase in Swindon what is in the Paralympics. We have mainly had children joining in but there are a few adults too. “At mainstream schools children don’t tend to play these games so it is nice to show them what they are all about.” Have-a-go sessions were held in Wharf Green every day during the Olympics and saw hundreds of people taking part in sport including athletics, netball and trampolining. The next Paralympic have-a-go session will be held on Saturday from 11am until 3pm, when it will include wheelchair fencing, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby. Angie Simpkins, 46, of Park North , who is a keen wheelchair basketball player, was at the event with her grandchildren, Jayma and Kason Simpkins-Webb. “I love to enjoy spending time with my grandchildren and playing with them – it is good to involve them in sport,” she said. “The Paralympics are brilliant this year. It is really good how they have done it.

“It is more in the eye of everyone who isn’t disabled than it has ever been before.” Angie and her granchildren had a go at the sports of boccia and sitting volleyball together. Jayma, eight, who is a pupil at Robert Le Kyng Primary School, said: “I have been wearing a blindfold to play goalball one-on-one. I got one goal.

“It felt really strange that I couldn’t see where the ball was, I could only hear it. When you are blind you need to be able to listen really well.” Jayma, who plays wheelchair basketball with Angie every week, said he had enjoyed watching the Paralympics on television. The Paralympics are being shown on the Big Screen every day.