Today marks an incredible milestone in the history of our organisation as Ken Sowden, our General Manager, celebrates 30 years working at ParaFed Canterbury.

Ken first came to ParaFed Canterbury as a volunteer from the New Zealand Army, where he had served more than 20 years. The New Zealand Army long service programme allowed for him to work with ParaFed Canterbury while still in the service, before eventually becoming a full-time employee with us in May 1995.

He has been a mentor to many of the staff members he has worked with at ParaFed Canterbury. The guidance and skills he has shared with his staff over the years has seen many of them move into national roles, with organisations such as Paralympics New Zealand, the Halberg Foundation, Sport New Zealand and the NZ Spinal Trust. He has impacted the lives of many of our members, and their families, whether it has been through sport, advocating on disability issues, funding advice, general support or friendship.

Ken has been a key figure in the development of wheelchair rugby as a sport, both nationally and internationally. He has served on the committees of New Zealand Wheelchair Rugby, Oceania Wheelchair Rugby and the World Wheelchair Rugby. He has assisted in the development of many regional ParaFed organisations around the country, and also the formation of the ParaFed Network, where there are now 14 regions that have at least one paid staff member supporting disability sport.

He was the Event Manager of a very successful World Wheelchair Rugby Championships held in Christchurch in 2006 and has been involved with all the major international Para sport competitions that have been hosted in Christchurch over the past 20 years, including the 1998 IPC Swimming World Championships, 1999 and 2003 World Wheelchair & Amputee Games and 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships.

In addition to his work with ParaFed Canterbury, Ken attended six consecutive Paralympic Games between 1996 - 2016 (five with the New Zealand team and one with World Wheelchair Rugby). He is a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM), the Paralympics New Zealand Order of Merit and a Justice of the Peace.

Thank you Ken for an amazing 30 years.

Article added: Thursday 22 May 2025