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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of Stay Ahead of the Games UK in Ukraine

23rd May 2012

Coming soon – Ukrainian Paralympic glory

Прес-конференція з нагоди 100 днів до початку Паралімпійських ігор в Лондоні

21st May marked 100 days to go to the start of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Press conference marking 100 days before the Paralympic Games in London

I’m here at the HQ of the Ukrainian National Paralympics Committee (NPC) in Kyiv for a press conference to mark the event, together with NPC President Valeriy Sushkevych; Simon Minty, a UK specialist on diversity and inclusivity; Sergiy Glushchenko, First Deputy Head of the State Social Service for Youth and Sports of Ukraine; and members of the Ukrainian National Paralympics Team.

Ukraine is one of the great powers of Paralympic sport and everyone is looking forward with immense excitement to the country’s participation in the Games.

In his remarks, Mr Sushkevych is generous in noting the role of the UK as the home of the Paralympics movement, and our good co-operation with, and support for, the NPC. Simon Minty sets out some of the practical measures which have been taken to ensure that not only the new venues but also existing ones such as Wimbledon are accessible not only to spectators with disabilities but also to sportsmen and sportswomen participating in Paralympics disciplines.

We have been working closely with the Ukrainian National Paralympics Committee for many months, both on events to promote the Paralympics and on practical matters such as provision of mobile biometric units so that our visa officers can come to the athletes rather than vice-versa.

All that remains now is for the Games themselves to start – I wish the powerful  Ukrainian team the best of luck in what we all hope will be some of the best Paralympic Games ever held.

About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.

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London 2012 paralympic movement paralympics Sport Ukraine

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