We are delighted that Jude has joined our BRIT Ambassador family.
Jude is a Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball player and has represented Great Britain at two Paralympic Games. She is a World and European Championship finalist, five time European medallist and U25 World and European Championship medallist.
“Having been a student at the University of Worcester and Sheffield Hallam University, I appreciate that this is a very tough time for young adults and students with many feeling isolated and experiencing depression and loneliness; as someone who lives with a disability I am aware that this is especially challenging for those who are vulnerable or have existing mental health difficulties.
From a fundraising perspective, BRIT’s annual challenges are inspiring; for 2021, BRIT have partnered with PAPYRUS – Prevention of Young Suicide, Nightline Association, Student Minds and the Charlie Waller Trust. All donations raised through the BRIT 2021 Challenge will be shared equally between BRIT and their four charity partners. BRIT are determined to ensure students and young adults receive timely support and this is an example of how they collaborate for the benefit of as many young adults as possible.
BRIT are striving to support and improve the mental health, wellbeing and fitness of all young adults and students in the UK. I am delighted that the BRIT 2021 Challenge is inclusive and has been designed so that young adults and students of all abilities can take part in many different ways; at home or on campus.
I am delighted to be part of the BRIT Ambassador family, and uniting with Olympians, Paralympians and sports personalities, to encourage universities and colleges to enter teams and support their students and staff as they complete their BRIT Challenge.
I would be thrilled to support students and staff at the University of Worcester and Sheffield Hallam University, should they enter teams in the BRIT 2021 Challenge.”
Jude is a 4.0 point British Wheelchair Basketball Player who represented Great Britain at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Games.
She won a Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Award for bravery and trekked across the Andes Mountains in Ecuador as part of the television programme, Beyond Boundaries.
Jude was born with a short thigh bone in her right leg. She could walk wearing crutches and special shoes. After some 18 operations over thirteen years to attempt to correct it, and with her GCSE exams approaching, she told the doctors that enough was enough. In 2006 she had her right leg amputated below the knee.
The idea of playing sport had not been uppermost in her mind, but in 2007 she became interested in wheelchair basketball. Jude attended a UK Sport Talent Day, and began playing for The Otters, a local club in Exeter, in 2007, as a 4.0 point player. The Lord's Taverners gave her a £2,000 custom-made wheelchair basketball chair.
in 2009, she made her international debut at the Paralympic World Cup. She played with the national side at the 2009 European Wheelchair Basketball Championships, at which they won bronze. They went on to win bronze again in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017.
Jude competed at the 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships and won bronze at the 2011 Women’s U25 World Championships in Ontario, Canada.
She was also part of the team at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. "I think we may be at our best for Rio in 2016," she told reporters beforehand, "but 2012 will be the biggest thing I ever do, and I won't be able to play at a home Paralympics ever again." The British Women's Wheelchair Basketball Team came 7th in London.
Jude won bronze at the 2013 European World Championships and silver at the 2013 Women’s U25 European Championships.
In 2014, Jude competed a the World Wheelchair Basketball Championships and in 2015, won her fourth bronze at the European Championships.
Between 2014 and 2016, Jude completed her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry at the University of Worcester.
Jude was selected to represent Great Britain at the 2016 Paralympic Games where the team produced its best ever performance, making it all the way to the semi-finals, but lost to the United States, and then the bronze medal match to the Netherlands.
In 2017, Jude won her fifth bronze at the European Championships and in 2018, won silver at the Wheelchair Basketball World Championships.
Between 2018 and 2019, Jude completed her Master of Science in Pharmacology and Biotechnology at Sheffield Hallam University.
To learn more about Wheelchair Basketball. Please visit the British Wheelchair Basketball website.
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