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Tiffiney Perry appointed to charitable trust board

Life Unlimited Charitable Trust has appointed former Paralympian and New York Marathon handcyclist champion Tiffiney Perry to its board replacing long-standing board member Andrew Smith.

Her first board meeting was held earlier last week in Hamilton.

Perry said she was “excited” by her appointment to the trust board.

“I am looking forward to learning more about the many services that Life Unlimited offers to people in the community that need assistance, whether it be hearing, mobility, autistic needs and community support.

“I am particularly excited to learn of the support that Life Unlimited facilitates for young people with an intellectual disability as they transition from school to the workforce.”

Perry is a trustee of the Brian Perry Charitable Trust, which supports community projects in the Waikato and partners with organisations to build stronger communities. She is the current co chair of Parafed Waikato, a not for profit organisation that promotes and provides sport and recreation opportunities for people with physical disabilities and visual impairments.  She is also secretary of New Zealand Wheelchair Tennis.

She has represented New Zealand at the Athens Paralympics in 2004 playing wheelchair tennis. More recently, she has represented New Zealand in hand cycling at various world cups and world championships around the world.

In 2016, she won the female handcycle category of the New York marathon in 2 hours 03 minutes and 58 seconds.

Perry is married to Chris Harvey and has two children Emma and Jack. She broke her back in a skiing accident when she was 23 and lost the feeling in the lower half of her body.

Board chair John Dobson, a co-founder of the trust, said Perry brought governance skills and a first-hand experience of what it means to be disabled.

“Our vision as an organisation is ‘Living independence for everyone’ and Tiffiney is a perfect example of that.”

Dobson paid tribute to Smith who stood down from the board after 20 years of valued service.

Life Unlimited’s other board members are: Life Unlimited co-founder Bruce Tocker (pictured with Tiffiney Perry), Lindsay Cumberpatch and Anthea Simcock.

This story appeared in the Spring 2017 issue of our free disability e-newsletter Infolink.

Read or sign up to receive Infolink here.

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