Two Years To Go!

I've just got back from the biggest and best Paralympics GB camp yet! 14 summer sports, Alpine Skiing and the Talent Transition Programme attended a 5 day camp (like a mini, pre-games holding camp) over the bank holiday.

Whilst most other Brits enjoyed some much needed sunshine, budding and experienced Paralympians alike demonstrated commitment, working with professionals on improving our game. Physiological testing, one to one sport specific training, as well as therapy, sports psychology, media training and inter-sport discussions in a Games environment meant a busy and exhausting few days for all.

Ken Hames, the military man who questioned preconceptions of disability through the Beyond Boundaries documentary, gave an inspiring talk highlighting parallels with the dedication, focus and skill needed for peak performance at the Paralympics. Two years to go and we are on track!

Thanks Paralympics GB on behalf of the alpine skiers, we appreciate your support!

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/inside-incredible-athletes

Record Recruitment for Starting Off

Northamptonshire's biggest office recruitment company, Starting Off, invited me to speak and present qualification certificates to trainees at both Kettering and Northampton Awards Ceremonies.

Starting Off provides qualification, apprentice and work opportunities for young people. It is a pleasure to be involved with a company dedicated to developing young people's skills and prospects and providing them with qualifications, apprentice and work opportunities.

Well done to everyone who achieved their awards and completed their apprenticeships with local companies. Good luck for the future!

How does a paraplegic do triathlon?

In my experience, triathletes are a pretty crazy lot and paratriathletes are apparently no different. Putting yourself through a gruelling trio of lake swimming, cycling and running takes a pretty special sort of character! Paratriathletes have missing limbs, paraplegia, visual impairments (the VI competitors have to run with blacked out goggles) and other physical disabilities. The distances raced equal regular triathlons and a fascinating variety of prostheses, handcycles, racing wheelchairs and other equipment are used.





I took part in my first International Paratriathlon in Hyde Park last weekend in a GB trisuit! The super sprint (the shortest discipline: 400m swim in the Serpentine, 10km bike, 3.5km run) took me over 48 minutes to complete although I was pleased to get bronze behind European Champion, Jane Egan and to finish only 3:47 off gold. A little frustrated however that it took over 3 minutes to get out of my wetsuit and on the bike! The fastest elite man, Hiffler finished in 32:16 for France and team GB won 3 Gold 5 Silver 1 Bronze medals!

The paratriatletes are an inspirational, welcoming and encouraging lot, if a little insane! Paratriathlon aims to become a Paralympic Event in Rio in 2016 and if anyone deserves it they do!

Click on the title for more info and paratri video.

Deloitte Ride Accross Britain raises £350,000 for Athletes!

600 dedicated Deloitte riders cycled the 1,000 miles from John O’Groats to Land’s End earlier this year and are well on the way to reaching the target of £1m for ParalympicsGB by 2013! The Ride Across Britain is an annual fundraiser and the support makes a huge difference to athletes like me.

Deloitte is the official Disability Sport Partner for SportsAid’s Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) programme. I came home from the season with top GB results for sitting women and couldn't have done that without TASS.

This summer I gave a talk at Deloitte CEO Dinner and hopefully encouraged some of the riders. Thank you so much Deloitte for your support which is central to bringing home medals for GB!

Young Leaders meet BP coaches!

In bidding for the 2012 Games, London 2012 pledged to support 100 young leaders on an intensive personal development programme and the Young Leaders Programme was created through the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust.

The chosen East London Young Leaders were full of enthusiasm for the Young Leaders Programme after meeting the BP Coaches for the first time on Monday. The Young Leaders will set up and run voluntary community projects which will recruit and engage other young people from their local area. Selected BP employees will give mentoring support and guidance to help these young people develop projects.

Both Young Leaders and BP employees seemed a little nervous about meeting their partner at first but a lively and interactive atmosphere soon developed thanks to team games run by Vinspired. Tom Davis (GB Judo) and I enjoyed supporting and motivating both parties and generally taking part.

It was lovely to see the Young Leaders again after the residential weekend in April and the video (see link) brought back fond memories. This feels like the start of a forward-thinking project in which I am delighted to be involved.

Click on the title to find out more about the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust, Young Leaders Programme.

Glowing Testimonial for Special Sports Day!

One of the Young Leaders, Tanya, who I met through work on the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust, mentioned that her school was doing a Special Sports Day to allow access to a number of disabled schools in the area, and introduce disabled children to sports in a Secondary School environment.

Sunbury Manor School in Sunbury-on-Thames put on an amazing day, allowing many children access to sports that they may never have tried. I spoke during the initial assembly and joined in with the activities afterwards (including boccia, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball). Thank you for giving me the opportunity to take part and well done to the Young Ambassadors who played influential roles coaching, encouraging and working with these young people, you showed some real skills, excellent work! I am sure the day has had a really positive impact on many and it was a pleasure to be involved.


Kate Vaughan, Director of Specialism did a great job organising the day and wrote me the loveliest email which I hope she won't mind me sharing:

Dear Anna

I'd just really like to let you know what impact you had on our day. It was so inspiring to hear you address the students at the start of the day - we had a large age range (Yr3 to Yr11) and a diverse mix of physical and learning difficulties, and your talk was targeted perfectly. They, as were the staff, were enthralled to hear your story, which was superbly illustrated with photos and video clips. Students and staff were happy to ask you questions, and you were equally happy to take time to answer them all personally. Thank you also for spending time afterwards getting involved in the Paralympic sport taster sessions with the students, I know it made their day. It really was wonderful to meet such an inspirational Paralympian who was friendly, approachable and down to earth. We only hope that you come and visit us again as we now consider you a good friend of the school! Thanks again Anna!!

Best wishes,

Kate.

Sports Personality Awards

Last November, cousin Debi and Richard who run a lovely old pub restaurant, the Malt Shovel in Gaydon, Warwickshire, hosted a magnificent 3 course dinner and fundraising event, raising £700 towards my training costs. Thank you so much, Malt Shovel team!

A few months ago, cousin Debi phoned to say that her daughter Laura’s school, Stratford-upon-Avon Grammar, had expressed an interest in me speaking at their Sports Awards.

Visiting a girls’ school for the first time since playing hockey matches aged 17 was an interesting experience. Having felt a little dubious about girls’ school, talking at Stratford-upon-Avon Grammar School for Girls was a very pleasant surprise. The pupils have the opportunities to play a huge range of sports and a number of the girls are talented and play for both county and national teams. I therefore themed my talk around working hard to develop talent and achieve YOUR potential. As I have discovered, hard work is central to success.




The girls were confident and fun and a great audience. After presenting sports personality prizes, I was invited to the BBQ and watched as many children sat in (and fell out of) my monoski. No damage was done and much fun was had by all!