LAUREN Rowles MBE won the Access Card Award for Outstanding Team Achievement alongside Gregg Stevenson at the Variety Disability Sports Awards.
The Bromsgrove sculler won gold in the PR2 mixed double sculls event at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games with her rowing partner Stevenson.
Rowles is a three-time Paralympic gold medallist following previous victories at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
Variety, the children’s charity, organised the awards ceremony which celebrates the achievements of disabled sports volunteers and athletes.
Rowles said: “It just means so much to win. About 12 years ago, Variety gave me my first bit of funding to get a racing chair, and it was the thing that kick started such an amazing journey in my life of getting involved in para sport.
“Without that, I wouldn’t have been able to enter into this incredible world. Now 10 years later, in my rowing career, I’ve achieved the success that I have and have been able to meet incredible people such as Gregg and the other rowers that we have on this team.
“That’s what it’s about. It’s about opening doors to these journeys in our lives, and to these teams, communities of people and connections. Without the funding and these essential charities that allow you to open these doors, we never would be able to get into it because of how expensive disability sport is.
“We feel really lucky sat here today with this award, but also feel really lucky for the people that have supported us along the way.
“If I could go back to when I first started, it was about finding people that I felt understood me and looked beyond the disability. I was at a point in my life where I really needed that, and I didn’t realise it at the very time, but it was powerful to have that to heal from what had happened to me.
“Having a disability at such a young age was the thing that really has led me to this point now. Friends I made when I started out are at the Paralympics today. It’s so special that they’re friends that I’ve made for life, and we get to share this one thing that we enjoy, which is sport and transforming our lives through it.”
The event also saw the launch of Variety’s Voices for Change advocacy campaign, which will work with children and young people across the UK to spotlight the challenges faced by disabled and disadvantaged children in accessing sports.
Variety’s ‘Voices for Change’ campaign is grassroots advocacy campaign aimed at breaking down barriers that prevent disabled children from low-income families from accessing sports and physical activities. To find out more and support the campaign, visit: www.variety.org.uk/voices-for-change
