Shropshire paralympian awarded honorary doctorate
A Shropshire paralympian and former wheelchair basketball international has been awarded an honorary doctorate in recognition of his work for disability sport.
Mark Fosbrook, 43, is now spearheading West Midlands Combined Authority’s ‘Include Me’ scheme which encourages disabled people to be active and at the heart of sport.
The honorary doctorate celebrates Mark's inspirational work and outstanding contribution to sport, including his current role as Include Me West Midlands manager and engagement advisor.
As a Paralympic athlete, Mark represented Great Britain in volleyball at the Atlanta 1996 Paralympics, wheelchair rugby at the World Championships, and wheelchair basketball in two European Championships - winning a gold and silver and one World Championship.
But he gave up the chance of a gold in Atlanta when he retired from competitive sport to concentrate on his role and says he does not regret it.
Originally from Portsmouth, Mark now lives in the Oswestry area with his wife and their sons aged seven and four.
Delighted
He said he was delighted to have received the doctorate and hoped that it would inspire others and raise awareness of the Include Me campaign.
His work on the project is a secondment from Activity Alliance, a charity working to make active lives possible and promoting their vision that disabled people are active for life.
"I am part of the physical activity team working with partners to involve more people and reduce the inequalities in those who take part," he said.
Mark studied BA (Hons) in Leisure Management and Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Gloucestershire, then the Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher
Education, from 1994 to 1998. He captained the men’s volleyball team for four years, and was leisure services sabbatical officer for the university.
He was on track for the 2018 World Wheelchair Basketball Championships when he decided to retire.
Brilliant
“I took the decision to give it up – I just realised that I could make a difference to the lives of thousands of disabled people and it suddenly just sat a bit better with me. I knew it was the right decision," he explained.
“Even when they won gold, I knew the potential of this was huge and I have a real passion to ensure this succeeds - so giving up the gold medal is not wasted.”
With organisations such as Sport England, UK Active and Midlands Mencap among the first to recognise the Include Me scheme Mark said that the next priorities were getting more businesses on board and creating a Citizens’ Network.
“Our primary focus is around disabled people but the benefits are wider than that, it’s about a permanent change," he added.
“As a disabled person myself, what hit me when I got to speak to others, was that for all the barriers and difficulties, there were just as many brilliant ideas coming out of that discussion.
“Gathering the research gave us a lot of information about problems and issues around the region – but for every problem there was also a solution.”
