Badminton player Nikki Welch, 31, from Pensilva, near Liskeard, has just won three gold medals at The Mayflower Games in Plymouth.
Organised by the Plymouth Mayflower Specials charity, the annual event was held at the Plymouth Life Centre on 28 and 29 June.
Nikki has been playing badminton events with the Special Olympics for 14 years and, in that time, has won 60 gold, 6 silver and 1 bronze medals.
Her success came in the same week that Nikki was awarded training sponsorship from the GLL Sport Foundation (GSF) – giving her free access to GLL’s 254 leisure centres nationwide.
“She has progressed with the help of GLL to become number one in the South West,” said Nikki’s father, Roger Welch. “She has also won gold medals in Cardiff, Swansea, Dublin and Scotland and her ambition is to play international competitions.”
Operating under the Better brand, GLL is the staff-owned charitable social enterprise that runs nine leisure centres in Cornwall on behalf of the council.
“It’s wonderful to see Nikki’s badminton continued badminton success,” said Karen Edmond, GLL’s Community Sport Manager in Cornwall. “Winning three golds at one event is an amazing achievement.”
144 Cornwall-based athletes, representing 23 sports, have received GSF support worth £92,150 in 2025. 72% of them get no other central funding, more than half are under the age of 21, 27% are under 16 and 8% of them live with disabilities.
For more information about GSF, visit www.gllsportfoundation.org
