2022 Winner
CHARLOTTE ASPLEY
Charity fundraiser and marathon runner – challenging stereotypes around disability and inspiring others to achieve.
Charlotte Aspley has a learning disability and Mosaic Down’s syndrome (a rare form of Down’s syndrome), which gives her poor muscle tone and visual impairment, but this hasn’t stopped her from notching up some incredible achievements.
The 31-year-old, from Lichfield, refuses to let her disability hold her back and has always been determined to try new things and sports.
As a teenager, Charlotte was training for the Team GB trampolining disability squad when she suffered a serious injury to her neck and had to withdraw. Undeterred, she took up running instead.
She says: “I never ran when I was younger…I just wanted a new challenge. I saw the London Marathon on TV and I thought, ‘I really want to do this.’
“Not many people know what having a learning disability really means, but I’ll let you in on a secret: it means that I’m not all that different from you. Just like you I have hopes and dreams.”
During lockdown, she ran her fifth marathon and started a running and activities club to help people with a learning disability get fit and healthy.
Charlotte has taken on the Berlin Marathon, New York Marathon and the London Marathon three times – all for Mencap, the learning disability charity, raising more than £15,000. She continues to work with the charity to raise awareness of what people with learning disability and other disabilities can achieve.
“Stigma or a lack of understanding about what a learning disability is means it isn’t always easy for people with a learning disability,” she says.
“When I left school, I was supported by Mencap to get my first ever job. I’m one of the lucky ones because only around 5 per cent of people with a learning disability are employed in England. Now I’ve been working at Tesco for ten years and I love it.
“I’m proof that if you’ve got the right support, you can do anything. That’s why I want to give something back to Mencap for all of the support they’ve given me.”
She hopes to inspire others to discover what they can do and find new confidence – through sport and physical activity. She adds: “The aim is to get as many people with disabilities as possible to participate. It is all about ability not disability.”