An exhibition showcasing people with disabilities from the area and their involvement in sport is taking place at North Herts Museum.
The exhibition, entitled 'For the love of the game', will be held until March 26.
It features Sam Prowse of the Letchworth Bravehearts, who captained in the second ever international mixed ability rugby match, and Royston judo coach Lesley Reid - who has competed in visually impaired judo tournaments and won two national judo championship medals 25 years apart.
The exhibition was curated by Freya Purcell, the museum's curatorial trainee employed through Curating For Change, a nationwide campaign to tackle the under-representation of disabled, neurodiverse or deaf people within the museum sector.
Freya, who has epilepsy and dyslexia, said: "When I was younger, I loved history, and seeing objects in museums made it more accessible to understand the history, like being able to literally step back into the past.
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"People were quick to say I couldn’t participate in sport due to my epilepsy, but it’s been amazing to see what sport can mean to people and what can happen when people say 'yes' and make things accessible instead of simply saying 'no'."
Freya has been working with the community to build the exhibition, using their stories and loaned or donated objects from their sporting lives.
The exhibition also highlights disability in the production of sport media - featuring North Herts resident and Paralympic athlete Maria Verdeille, who has worked as a researcher for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics and the Premier League.
Ros Allwood, cultural services manager at North Herts Council, said: "We hope the exhibition helps raise awareness about the potential of parasport and challenges the stereotype of who we think sport is for.
"There are a variety of organisations in North Herts which support para and mixed ability sport, but there is still a lot of work to be done to make sport accessible."
North Herts Museum is located on Brand Street in Hitchin, and is open from 10.30am to 4.30pm Tuesday to Saturday, and from 11am to 3pm on Sundays.
General admission and this exhibition are both free.
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