World-ranked wheelchair athlete named Vitalise Woman of Achievement at glittering ceremony

Lucy Shuker named Vitalise Woman of Achievement 2011 at a gala award ceremony in support of national disability charity Vitalise.

Lucy, 31, from Hampshire, is Britain’s number one ranked women’s wheelchair tennis player and 10th ranked in the world. She received the illustrious Vitalise Woman of Achievement award in recognition of her inspirational achievements in the world of disabled sport, having overcome being paralysed from the chest down following a motorbike accident in 2001.

Lucy’s partner in wheelchair doubles tennis is local professional Jordanne Whiley, from Halesowen, with whom Lucy is ranked 10th in the world. Lucy follows in the footsteps of previous Women of Achievement and Courage Award winners including Katie Piper, whose personal story My Beautiful Face inspired millions, and disabled yachtswoman Hilary Lister, who became the first ever quadriplegic person to sail solo across the English Channel.

The 29th annual Vitalise Women of the Year luncheon and awards ceremony was presented by Arti Halai, formerly of ITV’s Central News, and took place at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel, NEC on 14 October 2011. Special guest Kirstie Allsopp, star of TV’s property show Location, Location, Location, gave the keynote speech.

Over 400 high achieving women attended the ceremony, which also featured a dance display by stars of South Africa’s version of TV’s Strictly Come Dancing, a luxury bazaar and live music.

Linda Duberley, Vitalise’s Director of Fundraising and Communication, said: “Congratulations to Lucy on her award. At Vitalise we want to enrich the lives of disabled people by helping them achieve their personal goals, and Lucy is a fantastic example of that spirit. I’d also like to thank the thousands of women who have supported this event over the years. Their generosity has helped us to continue providing life-changing opportunities for thousands of disabled people like Lucy each year.”

Pauline Edden, Board Director of the Vitalise Woman of the Year Awards, said: “Lucy really stood out from all the candidates for her incredible achievements over the past year. Women face many obstacles in their struggle to excel, but the barriers Lucy has had to overcome to become Britain’s best wheelchair tennis player are a lesson to us all. She has proved that if we never give up pursuing our dreams, we can achieve anything.”

The annual Awards are in support of Vitalise, a national charity providing essential respite breaks for disabled people and carers. Proceeds from the event were donated directly to the charity. Over the previous 28 years, the awards have raised around £500,000 for Vitalise. The Vitalise Women of the Year Awards honours women’s outstanding individual achievement in all professions. In addition to the Woman of Achievement Award, the Vitalise Businesswoman of the Year Award recognises outstanding achievement in the sphere of business and provides positive role models to encourage other women to enter the business arena.

Vitalise is a national charity providing essential services for disabled people and carers. Vitalise provides short breaks for disabled people and carers, with 24-hour nursing care on-call and personal support, at three accessible Centres in Essex,
Southampton and Southport. All of Vitalise’s Centres offer a wide range of activities and excursions.

Vitalise - essential breaks for disabled people and carers 212 Business Design Centre, 52 City Road, London N1 0QH. Registered charity number 295072

Media contact
Colin Brook, Senior Communications Officer
020 7288 6878 / 0303 303 0147 / cbrook@vitalise.org.uk
Out of hours: 07960 464 728

Notes to Editors
• Extracts from Lucy’s acceptance speech will be available after the event
• Interviews with Lucy may be arranged on request
• High resolution images of Lucy and the other award winner at the event
can be downloaded from www.ptpimages.co.uk (go to client login and enter
password – vitalise11)
• For more information about Vitalise or to make a donation, visit
www.vitalise.org.uk
• Journalists are requested to mention the Vitalise website in all reporting
• Lucy’s website is www.lucyshuker.com

About Lucy Shuker
Lucy, 31, is from Fleet in Hampshire. She took up wheelchair tennis following a motorbike accident in 2001, which left her paralysed from the chest down. She is currently the highest ranking woman in the sport in Britain. Lucy is ranked 10th in the world for singles and10th in the world for doubles, with her partner Jordanne Whiley.

Among many other achievements, Lucy won the Belgian Open, Canadian International and Hilton Head tournaments in both singles and doubles in 2010 and was runner up in the British Open doubles event. She also reached the final at the
inaugural womens wheelchair doubles event at Wimbledon in 2010 and competed for Great Britain in the Beijing Paralympics in 2008.

Lucy received the 2005 Wheel Power Sports Award in the category Individual Female Achievement Award (beating Dame Tani Grey Thompson to the award) and was voted Players Player of the Year in 2006.

Lucy trains in Taunton, Somerset with her coach Natalie Ayton. Her next target is the London 2012 Paralympics.

This release was published on openPR.