Hannah and Marlie will be working closely with Avanti over the next twelve months to strengthen and promote the satellite provider’s CSR and Sustainability initiatives. Avanti shares many key values with the purpose-driven athletes and will be collaborating with them on STEM advocacy, education, and HR-focused initiatives.

Elite professional sailor, Hannah Mills OBE, has been recognised for her services to sport and sustainability, having founded the Big Plastic Pledge to tackle single-use plastic in sport.  The Sail GP sailor is also an ambassador at the 1851 Trust which makes STEM learning inspirational and accessible for the next generation.

This year, Avanti will define a new sustainability strategy and draw on Hannah’s passion and experience in this area to inspire its workforce and embed this within the business.

Education will remain a key strategic pillar for Avanti, and Hannah will be supporting the business to showcase the positive impact that quality education can have on young minds. Avanti has already helped the learning of more than 180,000 children with its satellite technology and has a target to connect an additional 10,000 remote schools and villages over the next 5 years. The business will also continue to inspire young people to pursue STEM careers with its annual Apprenticeship Scheme.

Saracens and England Women’s Rugby captain, Marlie Packer, will celebrate her 100th cap for England later this spring. Renowned for her achievements in rugby and commitment to championing gender equality and mental wellbeing, Marlie will work alongside Avanti on HR initiatives to support the physical and mental health of its workforce.

Having recently received the Great Place to Work certification, Avanti will be building on its existing employee wellness programme with new initiatives to engage and support its 220 employees across 7 international office locations.

Kyle Whitehill, CEO at Avanti Communications, said: “We have been working with Hannah and Marlie for the past year and they have had a huge impact on our business. These inspiring women are not only at the top of their game within their respective fields but also have impressive credentials beyond sport. Their values seamlessly align with Avanti’s ambitions to improve access to quality education for children across the globe and to prioritise mental and physical wellbeing within the workplace.”

Hannah Mills OBE said: “I am proud to be working with such a values-driven business like Avanti. Their focus on quality education and sustainability aligns with a lot of my recent work and values. I look forward to sharing my experiences with their passionate people and make a positive impact together.”

Marlie Packer added: “I’m super excited to continue my partnership with Avanti. They are a company that care about their people and provide opportunities to be the best version of themselves. I’m excited to share my experiences and knowledge from the rugby pitch and transfer them into a business setting.”

As someone with a severe physical disability, who requires care support in daily life but also to enable her to compete, she’s made it one of her missions to raise more awareness and knowledge about the barriers that disabled people face.

She’s been the volunteer Disability Access Officer at Larne FC for 4 years now, improving accessibility and inclusivity within the club. Her main work is on the infrastructure but also on policies, technology and trying to make Larne FC as accessible, inclusive and diverse as possible.

She is also a member of the BPA Athlete Commission, making sure that the views, representation and experiences of athletes with high support needs are heard and improved upon.

We asked her about her sporting journey & ambitions.

1. Why did you choose to start boccia?

The nature of my disability (dystonia) is progressive, and I’d tried out wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby previously.

A local club was being set up, and I was encouraged to go along, and initially I wasn’t that interested, which surprises most people. It was only after I was selected to represent NI at the UK Championships in 2014, and I saw the level of intricacy and accuracy of boccia at a national and then international level that peaked my interest.

After this competition, I was selected to the World Class Programme of boccia after a 1 day trial in Sheffield, and from this moment my life was inexplicably changed for the better.

2. What do you enjoy most about the sport?

Boccia is essentially like playing a board game, or chess with the levels of tactics and decision making. I’ve always been more interested in puzzles and games rather than fast paced cardio sport, so in a way boccia is the perfect sport for me!

With boccia there’s are always new ways of looking at shots, or decisions and athletes globally are always trying to improve and find the next competitive edge. It’s always moving forward, and thinking outside the box with tactics and decisions is imperitive to be competitive.

3. Where do you see the sport in the next 5 years?

This is a great question, and not one I had considered. This is the first Paralympic cycle where the classifications are not mixed, and I think it is the right time to do it. The female classifications will develop in strength and depth over the next few years, and I look forward to seeing where they get to.

In the next 5 years, I’d like to see that there are more retired boccia athletes who are still involved in the sport globally, through coaching and committees as retired athletes will have the lived experience that is needed to make changes within our sport and within all sports who have athletes with high support needs.

4. Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

An even more interesting question! Honestly I have no idea. I’m unsure if I will still be playing boccia, but I’d like to think I will still be involved in the sport in some way!

5. What would you like to do for the sport?

I am on the British Paralympic Association Athlete Commision, where myself and my fellow athletes give feedback and suggestions to improve athlete experience across all sports not just boccia.

I am always advocating for athletes with high support needs, like myself that there should be better representation in the mainstream media.

Outside of my sport, I am the Disability Access Officer at my local football club Larne FC. My role mainly involves changing infrastructure and improving accessibility at our club. I really enjoy this role and I see so many barriers as a disabled person, but if I can reduce and remove some of those so that everyone can enjoy this football, then I’m keen to do so.

6. Why are you passionate about your purpose?

As a person with a severe physical disability there are things that I wish that were better for the next generations of disabled people. Although I am just 1 person, shouting loudly within the Paralympic sphere about athletes with high support needs, I hope that one day that our needs will be considered before we even have to ask or request.

Panasonic has announced that 2x Olympic Champion and 3x World Champion Hannah Mills OBE (Order of the British Empire) has become the latest world-class athlete to join the European Team Panasonic family, alongside fellow Olympian Malaika Mihambo and Paralympian Hannah Cockroft.

With a mutual unwavering commitment to raising sustainability awareness and driving change, Hannah and Panasonic will utilise the high-profile platform of sports to encourage climate action worldwide.

Hannah Mills is hugely passionate about the environment and gender equality and equity. She is determined to harness the power of sports and sporting passion to change behaviour and influence as many individuals, businesses, and governments as possible into delivering positive impact.

Her passion has driven her to becoming a sustainability ambassador for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the ‘Global Purpose Ambassador’ for SailGP (an international sailing competition that features high-performance 50-foot foiling catamarans).

Hannah also launched the Big Plastic Pledge, with support from the IOC, a global campaign which calls on athletes and fans to reduce the use of single-use plastic in their daily lives. She is also the co-founder of Athletes of the World, an athlete group campaigning for positive impact around climate change.

On the water, Hannah has won both a silver medal for Team GB in the Olympic Games London 2012 and gold in the same event at Rio 2016. She became Olympian Champion again at Tokyo 2020.

Hannah’s accomplishments were recognised in 2021 when she was appointed OBE for her continued services to sailing and the environment.

As part of Team Panasonic, Hannah will be striving to further advance awareness for the need of everyone to take action in the fight against climate change and encourage collaboration between sport and business to drive change.

Speaking of partnering with Panasonic, Hannah comments, “We need the same passion and energy as we have for sports for sustainability – where we all back the planet as our Team.

“Working with a business the size and scale of Panasonic on sustainability is truly exciting. Panasonic’s GREEN IMPACT campaign is one of the few sustainability plans I’ve read from a company of such scale that is clear, understandable and looks at all areas of the business and the impact that can be achieved.

“Achieving net zero of its own operations by 2030 through reduction, avoidance and technological innovations is, in my opinion the responsibility which not only Panasonic should work for but for all business and industry. Seeing that from Panasonic along with a plan to back it up makes me excited to see what we can achieve together.”

Team Panasonic Athletes Campaign for Sustainability

Hannah Mills joins Malaika Mihambo and Hannah Cockroft as part of the European Team Panasonic family. Together with Panasonic they will encourage action for sustainability efforts towards the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

Junichi Suzuki, Chairman and CEO of Panasonic Europe B.V. comments, “Hannah is not only the world’s most successful female Olympic sailing athlete, but her impressive sustainability credentials mark her out as a true leader in her field.

“Shining a light on not just what we should be doing for climate action, but how it is a fundamental requirement for any business, and by working with exceptional athletes like Hannah Mills as part of Team Panasonic, we extend our opportunity to do so.”

For more information about Panasonic sustainability initiatives, visit the Panasonic GREEN IMPACT page:

https://holdings.panasonic/global/corporate/panasonic-green-impact.htmlFor more information about Panasonic as a Worldwide Olympic and Paralympic Partner visit: Panasonic Official Olympic & Paralympic Website | Panasonic Holdings

About the Panasonic Group

Founded in 1918, and today a global leader in developing innovative technologies and solutions for wide-ranging applications in the consumer electronics, housing, automotive, industry, communications, and energy sectors worldwide, the Panasonic Group switched to an operating company system on April 1, 2022 with Panasonic Holdings Corporation serving as a holding company and eight companies positioned under its umbrella. The Group reported consolidated net sales of 8,378.9 billion yen (ca. 59.4 billion Euro) for the year ended March 31, 2023.

To learn more about the Panasonic Group, please visit: https://holdings.panasonic/global/

What does it mean to qualify for your 2^nd Olympic Games?

It is really cool to be selected – in our sport to get to one Games is an achievement so to be going to my 2nd games is just amazing and I can’t wait to experience an Olympic Games in all its glory & try to bring home a couple medals!

Describe in 3 words the 2 disciplines you will be competing in at Paris 24!

Canoe – Technical, Finesse, Challenging

Kayak Cross – Fierce, Fast, Fight

What are your ambitions for Paris 2024?

To experience an Olympic Games in its full grandeur, to have fun & hopefully come back with a couple medals.

Does your training regime change in the lead up to Paris 24

Not specifically.  I will go through my normal training regime.  Everything is a lot more honed in & focused on the goal of winning the Olympics and what it is going to take to achieve that.

What’s it like a Dreams Beds ambassador ahead of Paris 24

It’s amazing to be associated with @Dreams – they’re a great company and sleep is so important especially in elite sport.  Recovery is a massive factor in performance, and sleep is a massive factor in recovery. Being partnered with Dreams not only ensures I have a great mattress for my recovery but also allows me to showcase my sport & how great it is to the nation.

Canoeing is tough.  What are your nutrition & hydration needs in the sport?

It is a hard sport to fuel as you need to be able to last quite a while by having access to fuel for big efforts throughout that.  I just make sure I eat enough and always have a sugary drink during sessions.

What do you do in your spare time away from canoeing?

I do some coaching in my spare time, but mainly I chill, watch TV, cuddle my cats or bake/cook.

What skills can canoeing give young people?

Canoeing demands a variety of skills.  It is a physical and technical sport alongside having a huge mental component. Having to develop each of these elements encourages athletes / young people to become really well-rounded, self -eliant and self-aware individuals.

Who was sporting idol/s growing up

I was inspired by Helen Darby-Dowman (nee Reeves) and Kelly Holmes. But my biggest inspiration came from the potential of who I could be.

How did you discover canoeing?

By complete fluke – the local canoe club was having an open day with a BBQ and a load of boats to try – it was a nice summers day so I just jumped on the water & enjoyed it so much I never looked back!

#sport #athlete #canoeing #winner #platform #givingback #sportmadehuman #BeMore

And 25 years later she is not only one of windsurfing’s rising stars but at the forefront of a new water sport; winging – and a passionate advocate of ocean science and marine conservation.

From a childhood spent in Oxford , learning to windsurf on a small reservoir with team 15, she went on to compete in Techno, achieving the Inland UK national title in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and 10th place in her first world championships in 2012.

She then went on to swap surfing for studying, travelling to Madagascar and Australasia, before heading to Plymouth University to study ocean science and marine conservation.

While there she also completed a HSE diving qualification, worked at the National Marine Aquarium as a diver and studied the effect of plastic microfibres on plankton for her final thesis.

She joined the IQFoil project in 2020and is currently in the British Sailing Squad, full time campaigning for the 2024 and 2028 Olympics.

However, everything she has achieved was thrown into jeopardy last year when she collided with another windsurfer and was struck across the face by a boom, breaking her cheekbone.

Thrown into jeopardy and also into perspective.

“It was my first significant injury,” she said, “and it made me very aware of dangers I hadn’t considered before. It has actually made me a better surfer – and thankfully my face has recovered.”

Although her dream of winning a world or European Championship medal – and ultimately an Olympic one – at windsurfing remains undimmed, she has her sights set, too, on bringing winging to the mainstream.

A combination of windfoiling and kite surfing it involves riding a foil board while holding an unattached, inflatable sail and of course it provides Alice with yet another reason – should one be needed – to take to the ocean.