I'm absolutely delighted that Claire Lomas is being awarded an MBE at Buckingham Palace today for her incredible fundraising for spinal injury research. 

She's an incredible person and it's no wonder that she's in demand as a motivational speaker. A former event rider, Claire became paralysed from the chest down in a horse riding accident in 2007. Since her accident Claire has raised well over £570,000 for charity and went on to become the first paralysed person to walk the London Marathon using a pioneering robotic suit. 

Claire is a patron to the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation (nsif) and has an impressive list of fundraising initiatives lined up for the year including:

- A motorbike ride out  - this will be the third motorbike event Claire has lead around the Leicestershire countryside. Previous ride outs have attracted over 100 bikers to join her in this challenge. Claire can feel the handlebars but has no core strength and no feeling of actually sitting on a motorbike so just riding one is a challenge in itself.

- Road2Recovery half marathon (18th June 2017). Claire is organising the second annual Road2Recovery Half Marathon in aid of nsif.  Last year’s event proved to be hugely popular with over 300 participants running through the scenic Eye Kettleby Lakes in Leicestershire. A family friendly event, the day not only includes the half marathon but also a 5K and 1 mile run, inflatables, games, food, drink and live music. The event is sponsored by NEXT and supported by The Melton Building Society meaning all profits raised go to nsif. If you'd like to take part you can sign up here.

- Great South Run (22nd October)  – Claire has been invited to do the Great South Run (10 miles) on the back of the Great North Run success.

An absolute inspiration to us all, I hope she has a wonderful day celebrating her MBE today.