Inaugural Sporting Heritage Awards to be Hosted by Yorkshire Sporting Duo, Hannah Cockroft and Tanya Arnold

The inaugural Sporting Heritage Awards, recognising the people and organisations keeping our sporting stories alive are to be hosted by seven-time Paralympic champion and Sporting Heritage Ambassador, Hannah Cockroft OBE and TV sports broadcaster, Tanya Arnold when they take place at Leeds Museum in April.

The awards are the first to specifically acknowledge the impact and wide-reaching role of sporting heritage in communities, education, academia, sport, society and culture.

Hannah Cockcroft with Flag

Hannah Cockroft, the Halifax born British Wheelchair racing champion says:

“Sporting heritage activity impacts across so many different agendas and areas of our lives. We all have a sporting story to share. As well as telling the important stories of social, economic, local and community history, it has a huge impact on areas such as health and wellbeing, sports participation, education and decreasing isolation and loneliness. We want to celebrate those who are doing a brilliant job of keeping our sporting stories alive and well in our communities.”

The awards are free to enter and include 8 categories including Best Sporting Heritage Moment of the Year following the huge sporting events that have taken place throughout 2021.

A familiar face and voice to many across Yorkshire, BBC sports presenter, Tanya Arnold adds:

“As someone who spends a lot of their working life sharing the sporting stories created in our communities, it’s an absolute pleasure to be part of this year’s inaugural Sporting Heritage Awards. These awards recognise those working across culture, society, education and sport to keep sporting collections and stories alive for future generations as well as celebrating the impact they have today.”

The Sporting Heritage Awards will be judged by an independent panel including Sir Rodney Walker (British sports administrator and current Chairman of the British Basketball League), Eilish McGuinness (Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund), Humayun Islam (Chairman of Bangla Bantams), Helena Bryne (British Library), Chris Leslie (Inside Out Sport Wales) and Hannah Flemming (R&A World Golf Museum).

Sporting Heritage CIC Founding Director, Dr. Justine Reilly says:

“There are many different people and organisations across the four nations delivering sporting heritage activity within their community – whether that be through creating an archive about their local sports club, celebrating a local sporting figure, delivering exhibitions, working with schools, or developing more diverse sporting knowledge in our communities. These awards are a great chance to celebrate the best examples of those organisations and people making a difference and impact through the legacy of sport.”

Nominations are now open with the final winners announced at a special event held at Leeds Museum on April 28th 2022

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