Distinguished Alumni Award from Loughborough University

I was so proud to receive a Distinguished Alumni Award from Loughborough University on Friday, along with Professor Mary Nevill & Professor Jo Harris.

We join the three first Distinguished Alumni recipients, Loughborough legends Rod Thorpe, Rex Hazeldine and David Bunker.

The night was even more special as I was alongside three incredible women being inducted into the Loughborough Sports Hall of Fame - Emma Mitchell, Goldie Sayers and Penny Briscoe OBE

I arrived at Loughborough in 1985 with a passion for sport, but it was the university itself - and the people I met there - that ignited that passion, and enabled me to see the role I could play in sport and the impact sport could have more broadly across society - especially in terms of gender equality.

The university still means so much to me. It’s been a constant thread throughout my career and it’s always a joy to return to campus.

Thank you to Loughborough University, and the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, for this very special honour.

It’s one of those moments when I reflect that my mum and dad would have been very proud. x