The Cerebral Palsy Sport Annual Awards 2020 took place on the evening of Saturday 12th December, hosted by Adi Fawcett, Chief Operating Officer at CP Sport. The event this year was proudly sponsored by Irwin Mitchell. Despite having to celebrate in a very different way, the evening was full of inspiration and stories showing the resilience and determination of our community to keep active and keep moving.
Adi, said:
“Tonight has been an opportunity for us to recognise what has been achieved this year and come together as a community to celebrate and enjoy ourselves. I would like to thank Irwin Mitchell for their support this year and helping us to put this evening together. Their generosity and hard work has been incredible. “
The 2020 winners are as follows:
Sporting Achievement of the Year – presented by Jennifer Cawthorne, Partner and Medical Negligence expert, Irwin Mitchell.
Winner: Jordan Crookes
Jordan has cp and is committed to helping others and raising awareness of cp. This year, he took on the challenge of running the London Marathon to raise money for CP Sport. Alongside working full time, Jordan trained 5 days a week from February to October after the marathon was delayed from the original date in April and became a virtual event in October. Jordan achieved his target of completing the marathon in under 5 hours.
Volunteer of the Year
Winner: Sarah Griffiths
Sarah set up Summertown Warriors, a football team for children with cp and other disabilities, in Oxford last year. Sarah and her husband have given up many weekends to seek sponsorship, reach out to families and provide access to training and coaching. The ethos behind the club is ‘Come as you are’, and it is a really inclusive, friendly community for children and their families.
Coach of the Year
Winner: Lorraine Campbell
Lorraine is a level one football coach in Northampton, working with players with cp as well as mainstream teams at FFA Escola Juniors. She has cp herself and is an inspiration to the young players she coaches giving them belief in achieving their goals. She is dedicated and committed to her role.
Sports Club of the Year
Winner: Bath RaceRunning Club
Around 20 families have been accessing indoor or outdoor RaceRunning sessions at this relatively new club. When lockdown started the club rented out nearly all their frames to families that wanted them to keep participants active, before resuming Covid safe sessions. Many see the club as a lifeline to engage their children with fun and active play.
The Christine Cruice Award for Overcoming Adversity – presented by Lynne Wardle Chair of our Board of Trustees, CP Sport
Winner: Nathan Mulhall
Nathan felt dismissed by his peers at school and in social sports and fell into bad habits. Finding sport initially though Halifax Wheelchair RL club, helped him turn this around and develop personally. Nathan plays and coaches wheelchair rugby league and is currently on the England World Cup 2021 training squad. He is an assistant coach at Halifax and is one of their two community coaches working in schools inspiring others. After receiving his university degree he is now seeking a teaching post. He also plays wheelchair basketball for his local club.
The Andrew Stubbs trophy – presented by Catherine Gibson & Jennifer Stubbs
Winner: Tully Kearney
Tully is a member of the British Para Swimming Team. She is a multiple British record and European record holder and has won many medals, including 3 golds at the World Para Swimming Championships in 2019. Throughout lockdown she continued to train hard in an adapted setting and still has her sights set on Tokyo. Tully also took part in the ‘For the Love of Scrubs’ movement sewing scrubs and scrub bags for the NHS. She has put together a video for the ‘return to pool’ guidance and has helped other swimmers throughout. She has been raising money for various charities, including CP Sport as part of the CPISRA team during At Home Superheroes in the summer. Tully has been named a finalist in the Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year Awards.
Winner: Matthew Humphreys
Matt has achieved a World’s first this year. He was the first RaceRunner to complete the London Marathon. Leading up to this event he was training 3 to 4 times per week and up to 3 hours at a time to make sure he was fully prepared. Matt completed the virtual London Marathon at the National Watersports Centre in Nottingham surrounded by his friends and family, some of whom ran with him part of the way and at the same time raising funds for Scope. Matt is already looking forward to running the Marathon again in 2021.
Fundraiser of the Year
Winner: Graceful Runners
The Graceful Runners are led by UKA Athletics coach Phil Fleetwood and raised money for CP Sport by taking part in the Winter Wonderwheels event from November to December this year. The team was made up of 3 RaceRunners; Rafi who has run for Great Britain, won a Silver Medal in the World Championships last year and holds two World Records. Matt who has represented England and has become the first RaceRunner to complete the London Marathon. Josh who is quite new to RaceRunning but competed in CP Sport events last year. Roy, is not a RaceRunner, but is not new to raising money for charity. When he was younger he ran 15 Marathons including the London Marathon in ’86 where he managed a time of 2Hrs 57! He has also completed a solo cycle ride from Lands’ End to John O ‘Groats and initiated an event he called 65 at 65 where he swam 2m, cycled 50m and then ran 13m. Having lived with Prostate Cancer for 15 years, during which time he has raised thousands for charity he is battling the disease and has joined us to walk with the aid of a walking frame. Incredibly this team raised a 4 figure sum before the event even started!
Partner of the Year
Winner: CP Teens
CP Teens and CP Sport have a natural alliance. Many young people with cp are familiar with both charities and COVID provided some new opportunities to work together. Early into lockdown our organisations came to together to develop a weekly social café online for young people with cp and effectively worked together to organise, promote and develop this brand new event.
Ann retired as a member of staff for CP Sport this spring and has given over 16 years’ service to the charity. After joining the team in 2004 Ann soon became well known to many of our beneficiaries, volunteers and fundraisers. Ann was predominantly the administrator for CP Sport but also supported colleagues with sports and fundraising events and could often found in the swimming results room or arranging ‘Beat the Pro’ at fundraising golf days.
Current and former colleagues and volunteers have many fond memories of working alongside Ann and she was a real character in the office. Ann thoroughly deserves to be recognised for all she has given to the charity and the positive impact she has had on people with cp and their families who she has come to know so well during her time with CP Sport.
Congratulations to all of our finalists and winners.
