2 days ago
Olympic gold medal-winning rowing star to speak at Cumbrian village hall
A gold medal-winning Olympic rower is set to talk at a Cumbrian village hall to raise money for its refurbishment.
Emily Craig MBE, 33, who won a gold medal in the lightweight double sculls rowing alongside teammate Imogen Grant at the Paris 2024 Olympics, will be appearing at Old Hutton Village Hall on Saturday, August 23.
The appearance by the former Olympian at the special 'Afternoon Tea Party' is to raise funds for refurbishments in the village hall which itself provides many groups in the area with a centralised place to congregate.
Groups such as the Women's Institute (WI) use the venue as well as it hosting yoga classes, badminton, bowling, birthday parties, and christening parties, amongst many other things.
A poster for the event next week (Image: Supplied) The village hall came in to existence over 100 years ago and although it was refurbished around 25 years ago, money is now needed to pay for new energy-efficient boilers to better heat the building in the winter months.
Craig, herself not a local to the area, is the daughter of the village's yoga class leader Angela Craig, who moved to Old Hutton 10 years ago.
The Olympic rowing champion, who is also a world and European champion, is set to tell stories of her journey to the top of her sport to those in attendance at the special Tea Party.
She began rowing aged 12, falling in love with the sport thereafter, and subsequently announcing that she had an Olympic dream, which she pursued at all costs.
Emily Craig (L) with her gold medal and her mum Angela (R), who lives in Old Hutton (Image: Angela Craig) Craig took part in her first senior international race aged 21 at the U23 World Championships in the lightweight quad, winning bronze before going one better with silver a year later.
Her journey to Olympic gold last year was an arduous one, with many challenges and heartbreaks along the way.
Perhaps, the most heartbreaking of events was when she and her doubles partner, Imogen Grant, missed out on a medal at the Tokyo Olympics by just an agonising 0.01 seconds.
This, however, made her triumph even sweeter last year.
Emily Craig is speaking from 2.30 pm on Saturday, August 23, at Old Hutton Village Hall, with readers being able to buy tickets to the 'Afternoon Tea Party', which is raising important funds for the hall, by clicking on the following link: Tickets.
