A PARALYMPIC goalball player was in York this week to teach a group of visually impaired and fully sighted volunteers how to play her sport so they can pass these skills on to people in northern Ghana.

Partially-sighted Georgie Bullen delivered the session in York after teaming up with local charity International Service and youth volunteering scheme ICS. This training was the start of REACT, a larger project that will support people with disabilities in rural Ghana.

Speaking after the session, Georgie said: “Today’s event has been fantastic, even if the volunteers are a little sore!

“They’ve picked up goalball so quickly – they’re already learning how to work as a team, and they’re starting to understand how vital communication is. “Today’s training has given them the skills they’ll need when they’re out in Ghana.”

From March, these volunteers will spend eight weeks working in Ghana with International Service on the REACT project.

Working with Georgie, volunteers will train and coach local people to play goalball. They will also use radio and community appearances to tackle disability stigma and spread the message that people with disabilities deserve to be treated equally.

In rural Ghana, people with disabilities are especially likely to live in poverty, International Service said. The social stigma around disability means that many are kept out of school, out of jobs, and out of their community, the charity added.

Georgie explains how goalball can change lives: “Goalball requires players to trust their team mates, to listen to each other and work as one.

“Playing and promoting goalball allows people with disabilities to develop new skills, and to become a visible member of their community.”

Georgie represented Team GB in the Paralypmics in 2012, and now runs Team Insight, a business that delivers unique corporate team-building events using goalball. The training in York, which was held at Clifton Green Primary School on Tuesday, marked the first day of the REACT project. Goalball sees participants compete in teams of three, and try to throw a ball that has bells embedded in it into the opponents’ goal.