Ivor Jess MBE is a

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

disability sports campaigner from

Glenavy Glenavy () is a village and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is approximately 11 miles west of Belfast and eight miles north-west of Lisburn, and sits on the banks of the Glenavy river. In the 2011 census it had a population ...

, County Antrim. Jess plays a range of sports, including

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is a style of basketball played using a sports wheelchair. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as ...

with the Knights Basketball team in Antrim. He also founded the Freewheelers cycle ride, the

wheelchair tennis Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis Adaptive sport, adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height and rackets are the same, but there are two major differences from pedestrian tennis: athletes use specially designe ...

group Spokes in Motion based at Ormeau and Ski Ability in

Craigavon Craigavon ( ) is a town in north County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It was a planned settlement, begun in 1965, and named after the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland: James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon. It was intended to be the heart of ...

. He began playing wheelchair sport after a spinal injury at the age of 29. The injury occurred from a cycling accident while Jess was preparing for a fundraising ride in aid of research into kidney disease. Since his injury, he has organised the event as the annual Freewheelers

Lough Neagh Lough Neagh ( ; ) is a freshwater lake in Northern Ireland and is the largest lake on the island of Ireland and in the British Isles. It has a surface area of and is about long and wide. According to Northern Ireland Water, it supplies 4 ...

Charity Cycle in aid of disability sport. He has raised over £100,000 for Disability Sport in Northern Ireland. An electrician by training, Jess works as a health and safety officer with Stoneyford Concrete. He is married to Karen and has two daughters, Angelina and Megan. He was awarded the MBE in the 2011 New Year’s Honours list, for services to disability sport in Northern Ireland.

Disability Sports NI Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, ...

said Jess had made a “massive contribution” to playing, promoting and fundraising for disability sport in Northern Ireland. In 2012, Jess took part in the torch relay for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. He is team captain for Northern Ireland wheelchair tennis at the 2015 School Games in Manchester

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jess, Ivor Living people Members of the Order of the British Empire Year of birth missing (living people) People from Glenavy Activists from County Antrim Irish disability rights activists British disability rights activists