At least 50 veteran Paralympians will attend the celebrations, including Britain’s first ever gold medalist Margaret Maughan, winner of an archery gold medal at Rome in 1960.

 

But it was at Stoke Mandeville Hospital that neurologist Dr Ludwig Guttmann first developed the idea for the Games.

 

In 1948, he set up a competition between sports clubs and other hospitals as part of a rehabilitation programme for British war veterans with spinal injuries.

 

The event grew over the next decade and in 1960 an Olympic-style Games for disabled athletes was held for the first time in Rome.

 

That will be celebrated today where Maughan will be joined by London 2012 hopefuls and 200 local young people to celebrate Paralympic Handover Day and 60 years of history at Stoke Mandeville. 

 

A specially-commissioned giant London 2012 Paralympic flag will be taken on a lap of honour around the world famous Stoke Mandeville Stadium, along with an artist-commissioned 60-year anniversary flag. 

 

Plans for a new archive reflecting Stoke Mandeville’s pivotal role in launching the Paralympic Movement will also be unveiled.
 
Kevan Baker, the chairman of WheelPower said: “We are delighted to be hosting this Paralympic Handover event to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Games originally staged in parallel with the 1948 Olympic Games in London.
 
“The Paralympic Games began at Stoke Mandeville on the lawns of the hospital as part of the rehabilitation of injured war veterans. 

 

"This event, in the wonderful facilities of the Stoke Mandeville Stadium, celebrates the heritage of the Paralympic Games and aims to ensure that this heritage is protected for future generations.”
 
Events at Stoke Mandeville will kick off with demonstrations by the GB wheelchair basketball development squad and the London wheelchair rugby development squad. 

 

Activities will also include BBC live coverage of the Paralympic Handover in Beijing and a ceremonial cake cutting. 
 
There will also be a programme of activities for young people in the nearby town of Aylesbury, including a flag relay to the stadium, sports and arts demonstrations, and live coverage from Beijing.

 

Local children will learn more about the Paralympic movement in a special school assembly presented by five-times Paralympian and three times medalist John Harris and London 2012’s head of education, Nick Fuller. 

 

The London 2012 Education Programme will officially launch tomorrow and more than 450 schools across the region have already signed up to take part in Handover Day actitvities.

 

The Stoke Mandeville event is organised by Wheelpower, the national charity for wheelchair sport that helps all athletes with disabilities to achieve their sporting dreams, and is supported by SEEDA, Aylesbury Vale District Council and Buckinghamshire County Council.
 
Sebastian Coe, the chairman of London 2012, said: “Sixty years after the first Stoke Mandeville Games I am delighted that so many Paralympians - both past competitors and future hopefuls - are getting together at the world famous stadium to celebrate the Paralympic Handover from Beijing to London. 

 

"As of 17 September 2008, the Paralympic Games are truly coming home. 

 

"The achievement of Stoke Mandeville over the years is not just reflected in our recent wins in Beijing but also in the many decades of successful sportsmen and women who, having trained at Stoke Mandeville, have gone on to successfully represent Great Britain.”
 
Over the next four years the South East will become the most welcoming region of the UK for disabled people, and the leading region for cultural activity for disabled and deaf people - encompassing sport, arts and wider culture.

 

This will be delivered through the Cultural Olympiad, through the work of the South East Partnership and through the Legacy Trust programme Accentuate.

 

The Stoke Mandeville archive is just one of many projects that this programme will support in its aim to offer more opportunities to disabled people within the region.
 
Caterina Loriggio, the creative programmer for London 2012 in the South East, said: “We are very proud in the South East that the Paralympics originated at Stoke Mandeville and it is fantastic to be able to celebrate this with so many national level athletes on this special London 2012 day. 

 

"We hope that the stories and values from the Paralympics and Stoke Mandeville archive will inspire and inform thousands of young people across the UK.

 

"And will do our best to ensure that 2012 is as significant a year as 1948 in the life of Stoke Mandeville and in the social history of disability.”