Over 100 Cumbrian athletes will be supported by a foundation dedicated to helping them succeed.
The GLL Sports Foundation, run by charitable social enterprise GLL, said 102 athletes, ranging from eight to 69 years old, from the county will receive a share of £70,000 of financial support for 2025.
Disciplines represented included 21 sports like BMX racing, rhythmic gymnastics, cricket, tennis, bowls, golf, trampolining, marathon running, taekwondo, cycling, swimming, skiing, triathlon and para-athletics.
Carlisle transplant athlete, Becky Seaton, 43, has been awarded GSF funding for the second year running.
Becky received a lifesaving kidney and pancreas transplant in 2016 and embarked on her fitness journey in 2017, taking part in a 5k run in memory of organ donors.
Success at the event sparked Becky’s interest in athletics and her passion developed from there. She has since gone on to win five gold medals and a silver at the 2023 World Transplant Games in Australia.
Becky is on track to represent Team GB at the World Transplant Games in Dresden, Germany in August where she will compete in sprinting, long jump and high jump.
Becky, who trains at the Sands Centre, Carlisle, said: “The last 10 years have been a whirlwind. I went from planning my own funeral to receiving a lifeline which I will be eternally grateful for.
“Competing provides me with a platform to represent the transplant community and raise awareness of how life-changing organ donation can be. By celebrating life through sport, I hope to be an inspirational role model for my sons – demonstrating to them what can be achieved against the odds through grit and determination.
“The support GLL provided in 2024 played a vital role in my athletic journey and personal wellbeing. Following the British Transplant Games in Nottingham, I brought home gold medals in the 100m, 200m, and 400m events, as well as a silver in the long jump.
“I also had the privilege of representing Team GB at the European Transplant and Dialysis Championships in Lisbon last summer, where I secured two gold and two silver medals in athletics.
“Receiving this award for a second year will be instrumental in helping me train, compete, and represent Team GB with pride and continue this incredible journey.”
Simon Lawson, of Maryport, is a 43-year old T53 and T54 Wheelchair athlete.
The son of a former professional speedway rider, he grew up riding BMX bikes, becoming a junior British Motocross champion before a crash in 2001 that paralysed him from the chest down.
Maintaining his passion for speed, he switched to wheelchair marathons and by 2015 was the second-fastest Brit at the London Marathon.
He set a British record time of 1:25:06 at the Boston Marathon in 2017 and won the Great North Run for the first time that year. In 2018, he claimed T54 marathon bronze at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and in 2024 was placed eighth in the Chicago Marathon.
Simon added: “The funding benefits my career immensely. Wheelchair racing is an expensive sport and I’m very grateful for the support and financial assistance which means I’m able to maintain my equipment and ensure that my physical fitness is at its peak.”
The event was attended by partners from Cumberland Council, Westmorland and Furness Council and Active Cumbria. The awards were presented by Gareth Kirk, GLL regional director and Luke Leathers, Cumberland Council’s healthy places service manager.
