A GOALBALL coach from Bury has been singled out as an ‘everyday hero’ in a campaign celebrating the selfless work of community sports coaches across the UK.

Paul Miller, who for 16 years visited schools across Bury as part of a visual impairment schools support team to promote disabled sport in the borough, has been recognised by Sports Coach UK in its Everyday Hero campaign.

Despite now living over the Yorkshire border in Halifax, Paul is Bury born and bred, and still coaches the Lancashire Lions visually impaired goalball team, based in Blackley, in Manchester.

The 58-year-old, who was born in Elton but spent most of his life in Summerseat, said: “As a coach you are motivated because the players are so motivated.

“Also, it is really fantastic seeing the pride of parents watching their children succeed at a sport when they may never have seen this before because they haven’t been able to compete with their sighted peers.

“It is very rewarding seeing children realise they can achieve things that they might have thought they couldn’t in the past.”

As the world focuses its attention to the Rio 2016 Paralympic games, Sports Coach UK has launched its Everyday Heroes campaign to raise the profile of coaches and coaching at all levels of sport and physical activity in the UK.

Mark Gannon, Chief Executive Officer of sports coach UK said “Coaches are key to inspiring participation at all levels of sport and we need to raise the profile of both coaches and coaching across sport and physical activity.

“The Everyday Heroes campaign is a great way of celebrating coaches at all levels of sport and physical activity while encouraging potential coaches to get involved as it is a great way of giving something back.”

Read the full story of Paul and many other coaches via the campaign website www.sportscoachuk.org/everydayheros.

And people can share your thoughts and personal stories using #CoachingHeroes via social media.