GB Wheelchair Rugby (GBWR) is delighted to announce the appointment of four new independent Board members. The new trustees together bring with them extensive experience across high performance sport, commercial, finance and governance.
The new Board members will take up their posts following GBWR’s AGM in September and replace a number of long-serving trustees who complete their terms of office. The new recruits, who were identified through an open recruitment process, are:
- Kate Clayton: Paralympics Executive at Channel 4
- Chris Conway: Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Commonwealth Games England
- Paula Dunn, MBE: Para Athletics Head Coach at UK Athletics
- Sam Seddon: European Brand Amplification Lead at IBM
Paula Dunn is a former Olympic sprinter and Commonwealth Games medalist who has been Para Athletics Head Coach for Great Britain since 2012, leading the team to consistent success in major championships including the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Dunn received an MBE in 2018 for Services to Athletics.
Kate Clayton is the Paralympics Corporate lead at Channel 4, the UK Paralympics broadcaster. Clayton has over 15 years’ experience across sports marketing, PR and stakeholder management and has prior experience assisting a wide range of key stakeholders in the disability sports arena, including Help for Heroes, the BPA and UK Sport.
Sam Seddon has been the UK Sports and Entertainment Partnership Lead for IBM Global Markets for the past seven years, with key partnerships including the RFU and The Championships, Wimbledon. Seddon has over 20 years’ experience across IT, Business Strategy and Marketing.
Chris Conway joined Commonwealth Games England as CFO in 2018 from Badminton England where he was Finance Director. He has been an independent member of GBWR’s Governance and Finance Committee for the past two years.
Ed Warner, who in September will take over the role of Chair of GBWR from Kevin Aitchison, said:
“I am delighted to welcome GBWR’s new board members. They have emerged from a highly competitive recruitment process. The breadth and quality of applications we received for these roles bears testimony to the high standing wheelchair rugby has in the UK.
“Like all sports, we currently have much work to do to ensure our grassroots and elite players can return to training and then competition as the country emerges from lockdown. We will not lose focus on the long-term strategic development of the sport, however, and our new Board members will have much to contribute to its growth at grassroots and the success of the GB team in the years ahead.”
Almost 1,000 people take part annually in wheelchair rugby in the UK. The GB team have won the past three European Championships and finished fifth at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. The team is currently seeded fourth in the world rankings and has strong ambitions to medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games next summer.
