From https://www.motivation.org.uk/blog/meet-motivations-new-ambassador-chloe-ball-hopkins1 “Let’s start by covering the basics. The ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ of me! Well, I’m Chloe Ball-Hopkins, and the ‘what’ (I suppose) is that I am a Para-Athlete. I was training for the Rio Paralympics in archery until an injury forced me to put a temporary hold on my dreams, and take a bit of a break from sport, in that capacity anyway. I have been busy working at the BBC in Bristol as a Sports Producer and Reporter for Radio Bristol and occasionally appearing on Points West too. I’ve also just been asked to sit on a news panel by the BBC tasked with looking at how they can target “youth” audiences! But I think the ‘what’ that is relevant here is that I am a now an ‘Ambassador’ for Motivation. I think the most important answer though is why I want to be an Ambassador and that’s pretty simple, and may sound cliché, but it’s because I want to make a difference. I may have been born with a number of medical conditions that have made life hard sometimes, but I am very aware of the fact that actually I am so lucky compared to so many. Just take a second to really read these statistics …
The right to an education is something that is still being fought for in some countries but that isn't why many disabled children can’t get to school; it’s because they don't have the equipment they need to physically get them there. I was doing a little maths the other day after looking at the cost of a Motivation wheelchair and I realised that the cost of my chair would cover the cost of over 25 wheelchairs provided by the charity. I want to try and use my gratitude of the support I was shown to try and help do the same for at least some of the 70 million people in the world who need chairs just like I did several years ago. I wish I could personally fix that statistic, but sadly I’m not in a position to be able to, but during my time as a Motivation Ambassador I am adamant to help make a positive impact on lowering that number. I am also looking to help with the sports element of the Charity too. It was back in 2012 that I first tried Motivation’s sports wheelchairs - and the photo on Motivation’s website of wheelchair tennis and of the racing chair in the brochure you can download from the Motivation website is of me! I want to do more than just be in the pictures now though. I hope to help develop access to sport for people as far away as some of the poorest parts of the world to right here on my doorstep in Bristol. We are all guilty in life of complaining about the small things. Whether it’s about the weather, how long it takes for your food to arrive at a restaurant, or the fact that you need new tyres on your wheelchair. Everybody moans, but I can honestly say hand on heart that I have never really been a complainer; but I moan even less now that I have been looking into just how challenging life can be for some people around the world. I want to see more people happy and included, whether that is helping a child get to school or giving someone a wheelchair they are in desperate need of. I want to see the smile on their face when they realise they have the potential to do more. There is a quote I particularly like: ‘making one person smile can change the world, maybe not the whole world, but their world’ So what do you say? Are you ready to work with me to change a whole lot of worlds?” You can catch up with Chloe by following her on Twitter and we hope to bring you updates through regular blogs on the Motivation website. Look out for her first challenge when she takes on the Superhero Triathlon challenge later this year! @chloe_ballhopzy
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