Hi my name is Joanne, I am 49, single and have been serving in the Army for over 28 years, I only started my powerlifting journey last year. I decided to take up the sport as getting older things were creaking and knew I’d never be a runner! So, I decided to give lifting a go and realised that I was actually quite strong and rather good at it. After entering my first divisional competition last year and coming first in my class I was hooked. During the last 12 months I have had to take 4 months out with a hand operation and COVID so I am amazed at my progress in such a short amount of time and cannot wait to see where I can progress on the National and International platform.

This year I have been pretty much living and breathing training ( with some moaning to my coach along the way). I have managed to compete in a divisional competition in order to set qualifying standards for Nationals, which I came first. I also entered All England full power and bench coming first in both in my class and 3rd in the open bench against all of the youngsters. I also competed over a busy 3 months since May by competing in the British Masters Placing 2nd with another PB.

Following my All England competition this qualified me for selection to compete and in which I have been invited to compete for England in Auckland New Zealand in November 22 for the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships.

This is a self funding sport and as such I have to cover all travel, accommodation, entry fees and drugs testing costs. I am so proud to have been selected to represent my country, which I could never have dreamed of, and with more hard work to do would only dream of the opportunity to bring home a medal for England, so I am asking for your help.

I’d be so grateful if you could donate whatever you can to help me cover some of these costs. Any donation will be put to good use and I would be eternally indebted to you all.

If you wish to follow my lifting journey you can follow me on instagram @lairdjojo_