Two Nottingham athletes will be making a big difference to their local community thanks to Allwyn’s ChangeMakers initiative.

Beth Gill and Tully Kearney will be driving social impact in Nottingham after both receiving funding from the new operator of The National Lottery.

Gill, who is using her grant to organise community workshops and training along with data collection as part of her PhD study and the ‘To Paddle or Not to Paddle?’ environment initiative in Nottingham, said: "I’m delighted to have received funding for the 'To Paddle or Not to Paddle' project, which tackles a pressing environmental and public health concern in Nottinghamshire’s waterways.

"This support allows us to increase our work with local communities, using citizen science to monitor faecal bacteria levels, antibiotic resistance, and assess risks linked to recreational water use.

Tess Howard one of the other 15 athletes who will also receive funding put on a session for school children to launch the ChnageMaker fund.

placeholder image — Tess Howard one of the other 15 athletes who will also receive funding put on a session for school children to launch the ChnageMaker fund.

"As water sports athletes, we spend much of our time training and competing on local waterways, witnessing both their beauty and the damage they suffer.

“The aim isn’t to put people off, I love my sport, but to use our unique position to gather samples, improve understanding of river bacteria, and help protect these vital environments.

"By working together as a community, we aim to build a collaborative effort that contributes valuable insights and makes our rivers safer and healthier for all.”

Kearney, who is using her grant to scale up the delivery of her ‘Now I Can Run’ initiative - a not-for-profit that focuses on giving individuals with impairments the ability to run by using a frame runner, said: “I’m so excited and thankful to be part of the ChangeMakers initiative and to receive this grant to help grow ‘Now I Can Run’.

“This project is really close to my heart and it’s all about giving people the chance to experience the feeling of running using a frame runner - something that allowed me to run the London Marathon last weekend!

“I know how powerful sport can be, and I want others to feel that same sense of freedom and confidence.

“Thanks to the support from Allwyn, UK Sport and ParalympicsGB, I can now help even more people get moving, feel included, and realise what they’re capable of.”

They will join fourteen other current and former National Lottery funded athletes to receive grants of up to £10,000 to support their activity across a range of causes from the improvement of health and wellbeing, supporting equality, diversity, and inclusion to driving environmental sustainability.

ChangeMakers is a partnership between Allwyn, UK Sport, Team GB and ParalympicsGB launched in 2024 as part of Allwyn’s commitment to having a positive social impact which sees the National Lottery operator commit £1M annually to its Social Value Fund.

The grants are the next step in the ChangeMaker initiative which is made of three elements to enable and empower athletes to deliver social impact for the causes and communities which are important to them.

Firstly, after the Paris Olympics and Paralympics more than 130 athletes committed to go back into communities across the country to support grassroots projects they are passionate about.

The second element – enables athletes to apply for grants to support their personal projects – with the successful recipients being launched today with the third strand being a special Changemaker ‘Powered By Purpose’ cohort.

This is a UK Sport programme which provides athletes with the skills, knowledge and confidence to turn success on the field of play into long-term positive impact for communities.

Andria Vidler, CEO of National Lottery Operator, Allwyn, added: “The ChangeMaker grants from Allwyn’s Social Value Fund will enable these inspiring athletes to make a real difference to the causes and communities which matter most to them.

“Their passion extends beyond sport and I am proud that through Allwyn’s commitment to having a positive social impact, we can support to them to take the next step.

“These grants represent our belief that athletes can be powerful catalysts for change both on and off the field of play.”

Sally Munday, CEO of UK Sport, said: “The National Lottery continues to be the biggest champion of sport at all levels in the UK, and it’s wonderful to see Allwyn, as operator of The National Lottery, enabling our athletes to go even further and use their voice and platforms to power positive change for people, communities and the planet.”

The grants are split into two types; a ‘Try It’ fund which helps athletes who have a social impact idea and want to test its viability and impact, and a ‘Scale It’ fund, to support athletes who have a pre-existing social impact initiative that requires more support to take it the next level.

For further information on Allwyn, The National Lottery and its games, please visit: www.allwyn.co.uk and www.national-lottery.co.uk