Rhys McCole - Rotary Young Citizen Awards 2024

Rhys McCole has been fighting for his life ever since he was born, having been diagnosed with a hole in his heart, auditory processing disorder, dyslexia, autism and asthma as well as having to battle sepsis and a ruptured appendix. Despite all of this, he has worked his way to becoming a full-time boxing coach and fitness instructor as well as the only ‘para-disabled’ boxer in the world to compete in mainstream boxing.

Rhys currently has his own boxing initiative, and he works in conjunction with local schools in his hometown of Inverclyde, Scotland, to encourage not just health and fitness but also messages of anti-weapons, anti-bullying, anti-substance abuse, anti-smoking/vaping.

Local schools are absolutely delighted, having seen less violence and better attendances, and the physical and mental health benefits of Rhys’s programme are being spoken about widely around Inverclyde.
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Young people from across the country have had their inspiring volunteering, fundraising and social impact recognised by Rotary in the annual Rotary Young Citizen Awards.

Read and watch more from this year’s winners at: https://www.rotarygbi.org/rotary-youn...