MARK Fosbrook is known for his elite international success in several sports

But now, the paralympian from Whittington has set his sights on inspiring other disabled people to achieve their goals.

Mark, 42, represented Great Britain in standing volleyball at the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, and was also part of the Team GB wheelchair rugby side team that won gold in the 2015 European Championships.

During his career with the GB men’s senior wheelchair basketball team, Mark won a gold and a silver European medal, and competed in the 2014 World Championships.

Alongside his international sporting success, Mark also consistently delivered at elite level notably in swimming and rowing, and was manager of the GB wheelchair rugby team in 2008 Beijing Paralympics.

But after a sporting career spanning three decades, Mark decided to retire earlier this year to focus on his family and work.

Mark works as West Midlands engagement advisor for Activity Alliance, which aims to get disabled people more engaged in physical activity

"I've always done that alongside my playing career, but now it just gives me more opportunity to focus more," he said.

He is working with the West Midland Combined Authority on the mayor's vision of achieving exemplary engagement with disabled people.

"We know at the moment that the West Midlands is currently the most inactive region in the country, and that is then also true for disabled people who are twice as likely to be inactive," he said.

"Whether they want to progress and be an elite sportsman or woman, that doesn't really matter. I think the most important thing is that they have an opportunity to be active and it just improved their quality of life."

Mark was born with Ectodactyly, which means that he has no feet or ankles and two fingers on each hand.

Originally from Portsmouth, Mark moved up to the Oswestry area around 12 year ago when his then-partner and now wife Emma started work at the Midland Centre for Spinal Injuries in Gobowen.

"My two two children were born and have been brought up here so it's very much now our home and our place, and I hold a lot of pride for the town and surrounding areas," he said.

He was a keen sportsman at school, competing in athletics an hockey, before eventually making his mark in standing volleyball.

There are several highlights that career stand out as Mark looks back on his career.

"The opportunity to go to Atlanta in '96 really started that international pathway for me, the chance then to again represent my country in wheelchair rugby was a huge honour and then breaking into the Great Britain team for wheelchair basketball was I suppose even more of a challenge, because there's such a depth of quality in players that a chance to make it into that team and be one of the top players in the world was a huge honour and one that I will hold dear with me forever," he said.

There were setbacks along the way, including classification issues for wheelchair rugby which saw him miss the Athens and Beijing Paralympic Games.

He was part of the team that qualified for Rio 2016 with their 2014 European Championships victory, but was dropped from the team before the competition.

"That was frustrating, but just inspired me to push myself even harder and broke back into the team the following year where we got a silver in the Europeans," he said

While sport is an "ideal platform" and is held on a "pedestal of achievement", Mark says he has come across people who have faced challenges such as learning disabilities, single parenthood and domestic abuse, and wants to help them realise how much they have achieved.

"For me, we don't recognise some of those achievements enough and the more that we can do to showcase and make people realise that whatever their particular aim or objective is, it's just as worthy as me putting a ball in a hole," he said.

"Yes it took a lot of training and a lot of effort, but so does life and we all have our challenges and we a face up to them and achieve them in different ways, and it's just as successful."