Established with financial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), the Trust was officially launched at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London at a ceremony attended by International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Sir Philip Craven.

He was joined at the launched by Trustees and a "distinguished group" of honorary vice-presidents, including British Paralympic Association chair Tim Reddish and Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, the county in which Stoke Mandeville is located.

“I am proud to be associated with the Trust, which will bring to life the heritage of the British Paralympic Movement and the passion and dedication of all those involved, from Sir Ludwig Guttmann to the proud athletes who have represented Great Britain in Paralympic Games from 1960 to the present day," said Sir Philip, also an honorary President of the NPHT.

"This is not only a story of medical advancement, but of human endeavour and sporting achievement, which the Trust will bring to life for generations to come.

“As we look forward to another exciting Paralympic Games this summer, we are enjoying the legacy of London 2012, when so many people realised the tremendous impact of the Paralympic Games.”

The NPHT will be responsible for organising exhibitions as well as using online resources and educational programmes.

Among key first-year goals will be to seek out memorabilia and artifacts from key organisations and individuals which form a key part of the movement’s history.

They will create a display at the Stoke Mandeville Stadium, the birthplace of the Paralympic Movement, with public involvement encouraged.

The display is expected to coincide with the Rio 2016 Paralympic Heritage Flame Ceremony at the venue on September 2.

“During the coming year and with HLF funding we will be finalising plans for the Trust to open a permanent heritage centre at Stoke Mandeville and a nationwide series of satellite exhibitions, together with outreach activities and an online virtual museum," added NPHT chairman Paul Mainds.

"The development of the Paralympic Movement is an enormous subject, but at its heart it is a story of individual courage beginning with Sir Ludwig Guttmann and extending to all those who have competed and triumphed in the Games, and finally, and this seems to me to the heart of it, the individual courage of all those dealing with an impairment who are able to use sport as their route to rehabilitation.

“The Paralympic Movement has much to be proud of and not least the way in which it has helped to change attitudes in society to disability.

"I hope that among our other objectives we can play a small part in furthering that work.”