Alumna Helen Reddy (Exercise and Sports Sciences, 2000)

Local alumna wins two top sporting awards

Exeter alumna Helen Reddy (Exercise and Sports Sciences, 2000), Head of Performing Arts at Ivybridge Community College, has won two top accolades at the Devon Sports Awards.

The local teacher was rewarded thanks to her work in the field of gymnastics, and won Devon Sports Coach of the Year, before taking the ceremony’s top honour – the Outstanding Contribution to Sport in Devon award, an award which recognises an individual who has gone ‘above and beyond’ to develop sport in the county.

Helen, who runs Ivybridge Gymnastics Academy as well as being a high-performance coach at Honiton Gymnastics Club, commented on the awards: “It’s a real honour to be welcomed to collect an award in front of so many of your peers, so when they announced the second award I was even more astounded.”

After a sporting career as a national-level gymnast, Helen completed her first degree and PGCE at the University of Exeter, while taking over the reins at Honiton Gymnastics Club in 2001. Following her time at Exeter, Helen her first PE teaching role in 2002 at Ivybridge Community College and since then she has held roles at the college including Head of Year, Director of Sport, and Head of Performing Arts. Helen now lectures at St Luke's Campus (and has done for about the past 10 years), on the PGCE course.

The Devon Sports Awards are organised by Active Devon, in Association with The Exeter Foundation and Exeter College. This year was the awards’ 20th anniversary ceremony.

Date: 3 July 2017