Slalom Inspires: Sporty Girl Magic

In the fourth episode of Amazing Starts Here, Amber meets with retired athlete Eilidh Gibson to talk about ‘Slalom Inspires’, a charity breaking down barriers for women in sport.

Over this episode, Eilidh tells us how she became a National Lottery funded elite athlete competing at the world senior level for the Great Britain Canoe Slalom Team while she was a full-time student at university. However, just as she was getting ready to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, an old injury put her dreams on hold.

This is where Slalom Inspires comes in. Not one to give up, Eilidh was able to discover a new path, by setting up the charity.

Slalom Inspires is a charity run by volunteers that inspire and empower girls to get into canoe slalom by organising fun events, running workshops about sport and menstruation, creating coaching initiatives, and much more.

The charity aims to give women the same opportunities as men in canoe slalom, by offering different activities allowing women and girls to gain confidence in the sport.

Thanks to National Lottery players, more than £30 million goes to good causes across the UK every week, which in turn helps charities like Slalom Inspires continue to carry out incredible work in their communities.