With 500 days to go until the London 2012 Paralympic Games, we’ve reached a very exciting landmark in the countdown.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were at 1,000 days to go. So much work has happened on the planning and preparation since then, so it’s great to take stock at this stage and look forward to the exciting things that are coming up through the spring and summer this year.

I think we’re in a great place with the planning. Over the last six months we’ve made great progress with transport and venues, and matched with this is the great planning going on behind the scenes.

Tremendous work has taken place with research partner The Nielsen Company, which has shown that there is a real desire for people to learn more about Paralympic sports. We’ve recently announced that International Paralympic Day (IPD) will take place in London on 8 September this year. This will be the biggest Paralympic day outside of Games time, and a great opportunity for people to learn more about Paralympic sports – and even try some of them out.

This massive event will enable people to get close to Paralympic sports ahead of the tickets going on sale the following day, on 9 September. There will be two million tickets available for the Paralympic Games, so people have a great chance to see Great British Paralympians attempt to emulate their successes in Beijing four years ago, where they won 42 gold medals. That should be enough to put a smile on everyone’s face up and down the country.

IPD and the Games themselves will have a very international flavour and it’ll be great to have the world in one city. All of the Paralympians coming from across the world will have home-grown support in London, which will be fantastic.

There will also be other opportunities between now and Games time to get involved with Parlamypic sport. The Paralympic World Cup will take place in Manchester in May, where Athletics, Swimming and Wheelchair Basketball will be among the top-class sports taking place. Hopefully people who may still not be sure about the Paralympic Games will go to this event or to IPD and have a fantastic experience.

There is a piece of the Paralympics for everyone across the UK, so get involved and become part of an amazing unique experience.