GBWR National Awards Announced for 2023

Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby launched their national awards for long-standing exceptional achievement to wheelchair rugby. It is hoped the awards will honour those that have made a significant contribution to our sport and ensure the rich history of our sport is both celebrated and remembered.
This year has seen the first recipients of these prestigious awards which were announced during the 2023 Wheelchair Rugby European Championship held 3-7 May in Cardiff, and presented by CEO, Jason Brisbane, and Senior Independent Director of the GBWR Board of Trustees, Mary Daunt.

Awards are bestowed across three categories and nominees are put forward through an application process. More details on this and the final selection process can be found via GBWR’s Awards and Recognition page on our website, where new nominations can also be made.

Congratulations to all those who were selected for a GBWR National Award in 2023 – these awards represent the highest pinnacle of achievement and reflect the value we as a sport place on the commitment those recognised have made to our sport.

Please read on for a summary of each of this year’s recipients.

Hall of Fame

• Bob O’Shea
• Keith Jones
• Rob Tarr
• Mike Spence

Outstanding Service to the Sport

• Sarah Leighton
• Jenette Jones

Honorary Lifetime Membership

• Roger and Heather Alwen
• Richard Allcroft
• Alan Ash (posthumous award)
• Brian Worrall (posthumous award)

Inaugral GBWR Hall of Fame Inductees

Bob O’Shea

As a player, Bob achieved countless honours for both club and country, including being a double Paralympian and captain of the GB team for three years. Bob co-founded the London Wheelchair Rugby Club, which is widely considered to be the best and biggest club team in Europe. Bob’s commitment to promoting disability sport and encouraging disabled people to lead active and healthy lifestyles through his work with the Stoke Mandeville Spinal Unit is truly commendable. His role as player/coach for the Stoke Mandeville Maulers is also making a significant impact with both the Paralympic discipline of the sport and wheelchair rugby fives.

Keith Jones

Keith was a pioneer of Welsh wheelchair rugby establishing one of the oldest clubs in Great Britain, the Cardiff Pirates. He was part of the GB squad who went to Atlanta in 1996 to demonstrate the sport and continued to represent GB in every major competition leading up to his second Paralympics in Sydney 2000. Keith continued to find new talent in Wales and share his knowledge of the sport through coaching with the new formed team the Ospreys. Keith’s longevity in the sport has always been fuelled with passion, commitment and enthusiasm and he has given the Welsh wheelchair rugby community the success it now displays.

Rob Tarr

Rob was instrumental in showcasing wheelchair rugby into the UK in the 1980’s. His illustrious career spanned two decades including three Paralympics (Athens 2004 as captain), three World championships and three European championships. Since retiring from the elite programme Rob has gone on to tutor the level 2 wheelchair rugby coaching course, his involvement has developed many coaches since the course was introduced. Rob was part of the coaching team that won gold in Tokyo 2021, he was the head coach for the inaugural low point World championships winning gold in 2022, and also for the gold winning team at the Women’s Cup in 2023. Rob has been part of GBWR for nearly 40 years and has been instrumental in almost every facet of our sport as it looks today.

Mike Spence MBE

Mike Spence has had a long wheelchair career, including his involvement with his club the Cardiff Pirates. Mike captained the Great Britain team at the European and World Championships in 1997/98 and represented GB at the Paralympic Games in Sydney 2000. In 2014 he was head coach to the Invictus Games wheelchair rugby team which won the gold medal in London and is a former Vice Chair of the GBWR Board. Mike was awarded an MBE in 2016 for his services to education as a school governor and teaching assistant but is also recognised for his wider work in the community and for his services to disability sport.

Outstanding Service to the Sport

Sarah Leighton

Sarah became involved with wheelchair rugby as a classifier in 2002, progressing along the pathway, becoming lead classifier for GBWR and head classifier for the European zone.

Jeanette Jones

Jeanette started as a volunteer with one of the UK’s first clubs in the late 1980s, before she joined GB as support staff in 1995; she remained an integral part of the team for 15 years and also continued to support clubs at a grassroot level.

GBWR Honorary Lifetime Membership

Roger and Heather Alwen

Roger and Heather Alwen have been long time supporters of GBWR. After GB lost their funding in 2016, Roger and Heather brought the Lloyds of London insurance market and a number of other partners, including Sevenoaks Rugby Club – of which Roger is a member – together to raise funds to ensure GB were able to prepare for the Tokyo Paralympics, where the team claimed the gold medal – the first medal of any colour for a European team. Roger and Heather have continued to support GBWR since the Tokyo Games and we are honoured to have them as part of the GBWR family. Roger and Heather’s daughter Kate Digweed, and husband George, have also been instrumental in supporting GBWR, with fundraising efforts including donating winnings from their racehorse and hosting charity clay shoots to support the team.

Richard Allcroft

Richard Allcroft is a well-known name in the world of wheelchair rugby both nationally and internationally. He first got involved in the sport as a player in 1992.  Richard was not only an excellent player, but he was also one of the first volunteers to help organise and run competitions in the UK. He was integral in securing initial Sport England funding for the sport’s development, which helped progress the sport from a small volunteer-led organisation to a larger, professional governing body. Richard’s knowledge of the game and rules were recognised, and he was recruited as wheelchair rugby’s technical delegate at both London 2012 and Rio 2016 Paralympics. He continued to serve the organisation as part of the GBWR board and was voted as the President of World Wheelchair Rugby, where he advocates for changes to improve the sport for all members.

Alan Ash

Alan represented his country for the first time in 1995 at the sport’s first European championship and first World championship. His first Paralympics in 1996 was also wheelchair rugby’s game debut. Throughout his career, Alan was part of the GB team at seven Europeans and won the European title in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2015, and was captain of the 2014 World championship team. Following his retirement as an international athlete in 2017, Alan had already been coaching his club team 10 years, and soon after became part of GB Talent’s coaching team. Within his coaching career, he supported several athletes to develop into international players, some of whom are currently on the GB performance team. Alan’s impact on the world of wheelchair rugby and Paralympics GB’s history is immeasurable. He will always be remembered as a true icon of the sport and a role model for aspiring athletes. Alan passed away in 2022 but his legacy will continue through the future generations of athletes, through the skills and tips he taught others, and through the stories of him that we will all continue to tell.

Brian Worrall

Brian was at the forefront in bringing wheelchair rugby into the UK and Europe in the 80’s and 90’s. He coached and captained GB at the first World and European championships in the 90’s plus the first ever wheelchair rugby competition at the Paralympics in 1996. Brian worked tirelessly in recruiting athletes to play the game in the sport’s early days, going around the spinal units in the UK to gain interest. Although Brian explored other interests after 1997, his legacy has lived on to where we are now.