London 2012: 'Why I want to go to the Paralympics'

Tickets are available for 20 sports across the 12 days of the Paralympic Games

The UK deadline for applying for Paralympic tickets is 18:00 BST on Monday and sports fans will be waiting to hear if they have been successful.

Some ticket hopefuls explain why they want to go to the Games in 2012. BBC London 2012 will report on their journey to the Paralympics, from their ticket applications through to next year's big event.

Sarah Ellacott

Sarah, 28, is a homemaker from Croydon with four children aged seven, five, four and 18 months. She home-schools her son Matthew, nearly six, who is autistic, while she waits for a suitable place at a local school to become available. She is also doing an Open University course in Politics and Sociology.

"Some people call me Supermum but I know people with more children than me who manage - I just have a strict timetable to adhere to. I want to take my family to the Paralympics because it would be good for my son to go because of his autism, he could see how far a disabled person can go.

Although the Paralympics is about athletes with physical disabilities, it would be good encouragement for him. I've applied for tickets for the whole family - swimming and athletics. I think Paralympic swimmers are the most amazing sportspeople to watch. It would encourage my son to see that the water's not that scary as he'll only go in the bathing pool at the moment.

We're also going to the Olympics. My husband and I managed to get tickets for handball and football and we're taking the kids to see some hockey - they like seeing things being whacked hard!

We're a very sport-orientated family, we're big fans of Crystal Palace football club and my husband's a programme seller, we take the whole family to matches. We try to encourage the kids with sports, we have a lot of things we love and we try to encourage them to find out what they love too. My daughter's the biggest football fan so far and we take Matthew as well, but with his autism he's more likely to run into a road without thinking, so it would be hard to let him go every week.

He'll be quite interested to see the Paralympics, he's fascinated with the world around him - I hope he'll really enjoy it. I don't know if he'll have a really great time or will want to leave. I'll have to promise him I'll take his ear defenders because he doesn't like noise. Hopefully if he's got them on he'll cope quite well."

Ruth Faulkner

Ruth, 21, is a student at Queen Mary, University of London, studying journalism and contemporary history. She has set up an Olympic-inspired student-led volunteering project at the university called QMSU Aspire. It aims to increase "understanding and recognition" of Paralympics and Parasport in her local community of Tower Hamlets, an Olympic borough.

"I think the Paralympics are really interesting and I've applied for tickets as I want to go to see sports I haven't seen much of before - they're almost more interesting for me. I've applied to see wheelchair basketball, goalball, boccia and sitting volleyball.

I'm really interested in sports in general, and I'm really big on volunteering. I've volunteered for the London Youth Games for a couple of years - I'm in the middle of doing it again at the moment. Through that I've experienced sports like boccia - not everyone's as excited about them as I am or knows as much about them as I do.

With Aspire we will be working with local schools in the area, delivering lessons on Paralympic sport and creating an event day where school children can try out some of the sports.

The response from local people at the London Youth Games has been really positive - loads of people are really passionate about sports and want to get involved. Tower Hamlets doesn't have as many resources as other boroughs, so people are happy to have some help for free."

Paul Dunn

Paul, 49, works for British Airways' HR Information Systems and lives in Wokingham. He and his family applied for Paralympic tickets after an unsuccessful attempt to buy Olympic tickets. He has also applied to be a Games Maker volunteer at the Olympic Games next year.

"We were going to apply anyway for Paralympic tickets - we knew it was a bit of a lottery for the Olympic tickets and so we knew we'd apply for Paralympic ones as well. I've applied for Paralympic athletics tickets and it's my first real foray into live Paralympic sport - up until now I've only seen it on TV, so if we get tickets it will be our first live encounter. If we get tickets I'll be taking my wife and son aged 15 and daughter, 11.

I'm interested in sport because when I was younger I ran for Hampshire cross country and went along to the local athletics club as a boy. I still run - for fitness - I can still get out of the door and run four or five miles relatively easily, although it takes longer to get rid of the aches and pains afterwards!

I always enjoyed watching athletics and volunteering as a Games Maker seemed a good way of helping and getting involved. I'm a part-time youth worker as well and the same thing drove me into that - if you've had a relatively good upbringing it's a good way to help your local community. I've had my Games Maker interview and am waiting to hear back at the moment - it could be any time from now until January or February. I've made myself free for the whole of the Olympics just in case. "

Kath Vickery

Kath, 28, lives in Somerset and was registered blind in 2006, having been registered as visually impaired from childhood. Kath is currently unemployed and looking for a job, having previously done administrative work. She takes part in swimming competitions at a recreational level and has already got Olympic synchronised swimming tickets for London 2012.

"Getting to the Paralympics will be a challenge for me, so this is why I've applied for nine swimming tickets as they're all in one venue. I've also applied for the closing ceremony which I'd be lucky to get. It would be amazing to go.

I don't know if there'll be any commentary going on at the Paralympics that I can listen to, but there'll be people around me and they're usually very helpful. I've heard there's a ticket share scheme but if someone can't go with me I'll see if I can pick up commentary on the radio. If I go to Formula One events, I listen to BBC Radio 5 Live.

I want to go because I've been involved in disabled sport and have an aspiration to see other disabled athletes achieving great things. I've been doing low-level swimming competitions in a club for the disabled since I was three.

I'll be coming to London on the train and while people are very helpful to me, I've only been there a few times - I usually try to avoid it as it's so busy.

The tube is difficult because I can't see the map, so I don't know if I'm on the right platform. It's good that they speak the stops.

On my ticket application I specified that I am visually impaired. I've got a little bit of sight - I do shape and light and dark. I have a white cane but I'm on the waiting list for a guide dog - they match the dog to the owner and I've been waiting six months, so hopefully I may have one by next year.

If I get a dog in time, I'm hoping to take it with me to the Games."

Sarah Price

Sarah, 26, works for School Sport Partnerships in County Durham, helping provide sport for 40 schools in the area, including disabled children. She has a passion for sport and also works with disabled people to encourage them to participate in sport.

"I'd rather go to the Paralympics than the Olympics. I've applied to go because I work in sport and it's been a big part of my life from growing up and I've specialised in engaging disabled people and girls in sport, so to see the best athletes in the world competing will inspire me and also the children.

I've applied for the opening ceremony, athletics - hopefully Pistorius will be running - swimming and also a day pass.

I'll be able to tell the kids I work with that if you work really hard you might be able to get to that level.

My mam's disabled - she has Multiple Sclerosis - she's been disabled since I was little but I don't see her as labelled, it's just who she is.

I help at my mam's MS group on a Saturday and I'm trying to get as many people involved in sport as I can.

I also do deaf-blind football coaching and I'm going to do a course in sitting volleyball.

I'm trying to raise awareness of Paralympic sports and am hoping to put a workshop together to raise awareness in disabled and also mainstream schools. I've also done some goalball in schools, it's a visually impaired sport but anyone can play it, it's really good for inclusion and mainstream schools too."