From MBE honour to starring on TV’s Bake Off and Strictly
CALDERDALE PARALYMPIAN Hannah Cockroft has a host of victories under her belt off the track as well as on it.
In 2012 she was awarded the honour of Freedom of the Borough of Halifax.
The following year, after her 2012 Paralympics success in London, she was given an MBE for Services to Sport in the New Year’s Honours list.
She made history by being nominated for the 2013 Sports Personality of the Year award - the first Paralympian ever to be nominated outside of a Paralympic year - and was named British Sportswoman of the Year by the Sports Journalist Association in 2017, becoming the first para-athlete to ever win the award in its 57year history.
In 2016 Hannah was made a Deputy Lieutenant of West
Yorkshire and was the youngest person to hold the title by over 30 years.
She has also been invited to appear on several hit TV shows, including Crystal Maze and The Great British Bake Off, presented a six-part series for the BBC’s Countryfile, and in 2014 she starred and won the Sport Relief edition of Strictly Come Dancing.
Hannah has given speeches at the House of Lords and in front of the Queen, and spoken for the likes of Ralph Lauren, BT, Muller, and Channel 4 on topics including accessibility and resilience.
She has been made Honorary Doctor at both York St John University and Bradford University, and was named
The Sunday Times Disability Sportswoman of the Year in 2017.
Her charity work is wideranging and she is a patron of several causes including The Care Workers’ Charity and Whizz Kids.
She is keen to promote the many benefits of disability sport and encourage more people to play it, watch it or support it.
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