University of East London Homepage

Paralympic pride – Beverley Gull MBE to be honoured among east London's sporting heroes

Thursday 31 January 2008

The record-breaking achievements of Paralympic champion and University of East London (UEL) photography student Beverley Gull MBE are set to be celebrated in a major new artwork dedicated to east London’s sporting heroes.

Beverley, winner of eight Paralympic medals for swimming, will feature alongside rugby star Jason Leonard and English football legends Bobby Moore and Sir Alf Ramsay in a larger-than-life sculpture to be unveiled later this year in Gale Street, Dagenham - the very road Beverley grew up on! 

Beverley said: "This is an absolutely amazing honour! It’s almost unbelievable to think that I’ll be up there with the greats like Sir Alf and Bobby Moore! East London is a very special place for me – I lived there for over 45 years and was wonderfully supported by my local borough throughout my sporting career.”

Beverley (55) has been a wheelchair user since contracting polio as a child in 1954. A car accident in 1981 resulted in paraplegia, but Beverley’s rehabilitation programme introduced her to swimming, a sport that soon grew into her passion.

After first representing Great Britain in 1985, Beverley won a total of 41 international gold medals and broke 13 world records during an 11 year swimming career. In 1992, she was awarded an MBE and became an Honorary Fellow of the University of East London, where she worked for over twenty years as a disability advisor.

Beverley retired from swimming in 1996 and soon took up evening classes at adult education colleges. In February 2002, she enrolled part-time on UEL’s BA (Hons) degree in Photography. She is currently awaiting her final results. 

Beverley said: “As a disabled child growing up in the 1950s, I was never encouraged to gain an education or to dream of any kind of achievement. My swimming success was a great confidence boost and made me wonder what else might be possible.

“Having worked at UEL for so many years, I knew it was a good university, with great support for mature and disabled students. I always enjoyed helping the students, and especially seeing them graduate - it’s fantastic to think that this time it’ll be me up there crossing the stage! 

“The degree’s been a really interesting challenge; I can’t draw, so I think of my camera as a pencil. In my final year, I went back into the sporting arena to photograph Paralympic athletes training. I now hope to go on and work as a professional photographer at the Beijing and London Paralympics.”

The sculptures of Beverley, Bobby et al will be unveiled in late summer 2008 on grassland at the junction of the A13 with Gale Street, Dagenham.

Professor Martin Everett, UEL Vice-Chancellor, said: “Beverley has been a wonderful ambassador of the University of East London, both as an employee and as a student. Her sporting record is second-to-none, and she fully deserves to be recognised alongside such greats as Bobby Moore and Sir Alf Ramsay. Beverley is also a very talented photographer, and we wish her all the very best as she embarks on an exciting new career.”

For details and pictures contact Daniel Cherry: 020 8223 2194

University of East London: London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Office

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

Information for screenreader users:

For a general description of these pages and an explanation of how they should work with screenreading equipment please follow this link: Link to general description

For further information on this web site’s accessibility features please follow this link: Link to accessibility information