Two British Judo Athletes Selected for new ChangeMakers grant

Allwyn, operator of The National Lottery, has announced the Team GB and ParalympicsGB stars who are set to receive grants as part of the ChangeMakers initiative, which will provide a total of £100,000 for athletes to power positive change.

Sixteen current and former National Lottery funded athletes will receive grants of up to £10,000 to support their activity across a wide range of causes including mentoring programmes for disadvantaged children, supporting mental wellbeing, and empowering women and girls with disabilities.

ChangeMakers is a partnership between Allwyn, UK Sport, Team GB and ParalympicsGB launched in 2024. The Changemaker initiative was the first campaign launched as part of Allwyn’s commitment to operate the National Lottery in an environmentally and socially responsible way, with £1m annually through its own Social Value Fund.

Judo’s Nekoda Smythe-Davis and Dan Powell were selected alongside 14 other athletes from across a range of sport, and we caught up with Nekoda to hear her thoughts on the announcement:

“I’m super excited grateful that I have received this funding from Allwyn through the National Lottery and UK Sport with the Changemakers initiative. This initiative has allowed athletes transitioning off Performance programme like myself to receive some backing and some funding to start up a brand-new initiative.

“Judo and its core values can do so much for young people. I know how much it has benefited me in a whole range of areas and it’s a huge passion of mine to spread these benefits to the next generation.

I’m so excited to share with everyone what that project is and I’ll be announcing in a few days’ time what that project entails and how it is going to impact the community and change lives as well. I would love to have all your support so keep your eyes peeled shortly.

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.

The ChangeMaker initiative is made up of three elements.  Firstly, after the Paris Olympics and Paralympics more than 130 athletes committed to go back 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 announced today. The third strand is 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.

The National Lottery raises on average £30m every week for National Lottery-funded projects. This is the power behind the social impact that The National Lottery makes across the nation – from arts, to heritage, to community, to sport and our elite athletes. The £1M annual Allwyn Social Value Fund is designed to enhance and support those initiatives and is not being funded by money allocated for National Lottery Good Cause funding or National Lottery players.

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