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Ivor Jess MBE is a
Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...
disability sports campaigner. Jess plays a range of sports, including
wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (o ...
with the Knights Basketball team in
Antrim Antrim may refer to: Boats *Antrim 20, an American sailboat design People * Donald Antrim (born 1958), American writer * "Henry Antrim", an alias used by Henry McCarty, better known as Billy the Kid, a 19th-century outlaw * Harry Antrim (1884 ...
. He also founded the Freewheelers cycle ride, the
wheelchair tennis Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis 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 designed wheelchairs, ...
group Spokes in Motion based at
Ormeau Ormeau may refer to: * Ormeau, Queensland, a town on the Gold Coast hinterland in Queensland, Australia * Belfast Ormeau (UK Parliament constituency), 1918–1922 * Ormeau Road, a major road in Belfast, and the area around it * "Ormeau", a song by ...
and Ski Ability in
Craigavon Craigavon may refer to: * Craigavon, County Armagh, a planned town in Northern Ireland ** Craigavon Borough Council, 1972–2015 local government area centred on the planned town * Viscount Craigavon, title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom ...
. 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 in the island of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the British Isles. It has a surface area of and supplies 40% of Northern Ireland's water. Its main inflows come ...
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 Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language of t ...
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, sen ...
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)