Kate's Story

Now aged 13, Kate was born visually impaired. Last month she travelled to Landau in Germany to represent Britain in the German Open Judo Championship organised by the National Paralympic Committee.

Although Kate travelled with her judo coach, it was the first trip she had made overseas without her parents. She was nervous on the day, knowing everyone was watching and that the competition was being filmed. However, this didn’t stop her giving her all in the three fights; against a Swedish girl, a German girl and a Dutch girl. Her courage paid off and she came away with a bronze medal -- a fantastic achievement!

Kate has attended her local Actionnaires club from the age of eight. It was the first time she’d met other visually impaired children as she is the only visually impaired pupil at her school.

Kate says "Actionnaires is where I got started. We went on a day trip to a judo club and at the end the coach asked if we had any questions. I put my hand up and said ‘Yes, when can I come back?’ That was five years ago. I now attend a mainstream judo club and train three times a week. I just need one more grade on my orange belt to move up to a green.

"Training three times a week is tough but I am determined because my dream is to do this for a living. When I went to the tournament in Germany, I met some adults who are judo professionals and receive funding from the lottery, which really inspired me. I want to be able to train every day. Now I’m watching my diet and trying to eat healthily so I can really give judo my best shot.

"Actionnaires is always fun as it gives you the chance to try new things. If you feel you can’t do something, they always encourage you, but they don’t push you too much. I also made loads of friends who I still keep in touch with now."

Kate’s mum is, unsurprisingly, very proud of her. She says: "The leaders at Actionnaires are very inspiring. I remember when Kate was very young, seeing another family with a visually impaired daughter - the way they wrapped her up in cotton wool made me think I just didn’t want that for Kate. I want her to have as many opportunities as possible. She now wants to have a career in judo and I want to fully support her with this. Actionnaires has opened a lot of doors for Kate. She wouldn’t be doing what she’s doing now if it wasn’t for them."