Dan Bentley and Cecilia Turk are both 2012 Paralympic Games medal hopefuls in the sport of boccia – a game similar to bowls played by wheelchair athletes.

Boccia is one of 10 sports featured on the new stamps so Dan and Cecilia were invited to the launch to give their seal of approval with the University's Sports Developement Manager, Paul Tilley.

Dan, a second-year communication design and graphics student who won gold in the team boccia event at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, told Portsmouth's The News: “It's fantastic to see how far Paralympic sport has come in the past few years and I feel privileged to be asked to promote the new stamp.”

Other sports featured on the stamps include track athletics, canoe slalom, diving, judo, basketball, weightlifting and badminton alongside the Paralympic sports of archery and equestrian.