Paralympian Olivia Breen joins Cerebral Palsy Cymru's team as its new Ambassador on World Cerebral Palsy Day.

Olivia, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of two, has represented both Wales and Great Britain in the Commonwealth and Paralympic Games, winning Gold in Birmingham in 2022. She is a passionate and hands-on supporter of Cerebral Palsy Cymru, helping us to raise £22,220 in just seven days as part of our Big Give Christmas Challenge in 2022. These essential funds support our early intervention service, ‘Better Start, Better Future’, which provides specialist therapy and support to families with babies who have or are at high risk of cerebral palsy.

“I’m so pleased and proud to have become an ambassador for Cerebral Palsy Cymru. As I know from personal experience after visiting their children’s centre in Cardiff, this support can really be life-changing" said Olivia. "I can’t wait to work with the amazing team there to help the charity raise much-needed funds for its important work as the national cerebral palsy charity for Wales.”

Olivia will be officially welcomed as our Ambassador at our Better Start Ball. The event will be attended by over 200 of our supporters, raising funds to support our unique and specialist therapy for babies, children and families in Wales. 

“Our specialist early intervention service receives no funding from the NHS or Welsh Government and is funded entirely from our own fundraising activity,” said Jenny Carroll, Centre Director at Cerebral Palsy Cymru. “We are currently experiencing an unprecedented demand for this service, and the Better Start Ball is just one way we are raising funds to ensure we can provide support to every baby and family in Wales that needs it. We are delighted to officially welcome Olivia to our Cerebral Palsy Cymru family. She is an extraordinary woman who has already achieved so much and is a huge inspiration to so many children with cerebral palsy and their families."

Earlier this year Olivia visited our children’s centre in Cardiff to meet some of the young people participating in our ESCAPADES! project, which is kindly funded by BBC Children in Need. The young people were thrilled to meet Olivia and share some of the activities they had been doing together in the session.

We are excited to work closely with Olivia in the future to help raise awareness of cerebral palsy, and the work we do across Wales to make a difference to children and families across Wales living with cerebral palsy.