Dwarf Sports Association Founders Honoured at Buckingham Palace
Husband and Wife, Arthur and Penny Dean were honoured in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, both receiving an OBE presented to them by The Prince of Wales.
The couple were honoured for their hard work over many years supporting and developing sport for people with dwarfism and restricted growth. The Dwarf Sports Association (DSA) was established 21 years ago by the couple with a pledge to make regular sporting opportunity accessible and enjoyable to anyone and everyone of restricted growth in the UK. They are committed to provide amazing events for people to enjoy and a supportive network for everyone involved that now stretches over the whole of the UK.
Now with over 1,500 members, DSA is a recognised National Disability Sporting Organisation. The Charity provides a place for people to get together, share their experiences and friendship. It also runs regional and national events that are attended by people from all over the world.
Penny, 57 was impressed by The Prince of Wales, she said:
“We were given our awards by Prince Charles, and he was very interested, very charming and considerate. He said he hoped that receiving the OBE would give more publicity and awareness for the charity, which was really nice of him."
She added:
“We went up as a couple and received our awards as a couple and he spoke to us as a couple. That was very special as we’re married and we run the charity together and to be honoured together was really nice.”
