DISABILITY Awareness Day was tinged with an Olympic glow on Sunday.

The 21st running of the event saw torchbearers Aden Walker, aged 42, and Adrian Darbyshire, aged 38, both from Great Sankey, join in the fun.

Aden said: “I have been very busy since I carried the torch and I really enjoyed being involved in Disability Awareness Day.

“It is a great event.”

The annual event, based at Walton Gardens, also had dozens of sports for visitors to try as well as performances to enjoy.

This year’s sports zone was dedicated to Dave Connor, a supporter of Warrington Disability Partnership, who died last month.

The day was sponsored by Your Housing Group and saw thousands attend.

Carly & Martin from BBC 3’s Autistic Superstars, the Batala Samba Band, ELLA Performance group, Wired for Sound – Warrington’s community choir – all performed in the arts marquee.

Some 20,000 people attended on the day, looking at 317 exhibitors while more than 6,000 people took part in events throughout the week.

Dave Thompson, the founder of DAD, said it was a real team effort to make sure the event went ahead as planned.

“Everyone got involved. We worked out it was 133 hours of work in eight days to get it ready.

“We were worried it may have to be cancelled on health and safety grounds because the mud was so bad.

“But everyone worked together, from the volunteers who took a week off work, to people from Thorn Cross and the rangers, it was a real team effort.

“To see it all come together was really satisfying.”

For the first time, Dave and son Gavin got to see the whole event from the air.

“It looked amazing and it is an experience I will never forget,” he added.