Sporting Champions: Longridge

I am extremely proud to have been selected as a ‘Sporting Champion’ to deliver Sportivate, a programme that has helped create a lasting participation legacy from London 2012.

Sportivate is one of the most important parts of the government’s mass participation legacy plans and I hope, that I can play an important role in helping encourage many young people to get into sport.

About a month ago I helped deliver my first motivational session to a group of young aspiring fencers at Longridge in Marlow. The group were naturally a bit reserved to start with but we soon relaxed into a fantastic session.

The young people grew in confidence and developed a great deal technically as fencers over the course of the programme at Longridge, It was a pleasure to see. They were engaged from start to finish and it was fantastic to see the big smiles on their faces at the end of each session.

It felt very rewarding to see them so enthusiastic about fencing and see that spark of passion for the sport in them that I had all those years ago when I first started fencing.

We did lots of footwork drills, fencing master-classes, games and a final team competition to wrap things up. I’d like to thank Leon Paul for providing posters as prizes - the group absolutely loved them!

During my time at Longridge, I wanted to use my experience as a former elite athlete to provide inspiration to these young people and really encourage them to stick at fencing. Hopefully I did just that. The group even promised me to carry on training hard and to never do less than their best. I’ll be checking in to see if they do!

But seriously, it was about enjoying fencing, having fun and feeling good about themselves. I felt like my visits were worthwhile and made a difference to the group. If I inspired even just a handful of young people to continue fencing, then fantastic.

I’d like to thank Jackie Faulkner and the staff at Longridge for looking after me so well and I very much hope I can work with you again in the future!

Youth Employment Convention

On Wednesday 8th May, I was very proud to speak on behalf of the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust at the Youth Employment Convention in Westminster.

Since stopping fencing, I have been involved in many projects with the Trust that seek to help young people get their lives back on track. The DKH Legacy Trust employ a team of world-class athletes who use their experience and skills gained in elite level sport to help support young people, the majority of whom come from difficult backgrounds.

This is something that I care a great deal about. When I think back at how much my mentors have been there for me and have given up their time and experience so unselfishly for my benefit – I am very grateful. I find it very rewarding to be able to give something back.

It’s not about trying to make disadvantaged young people future Olympians. It’s about trying to help them develop skills like focus, resilience, confidence, self-esteem and work ethic. All of which, I was lucky enough to pick up through sport.

I was honoured to be a part of the Youth Employment Convention, and particularly interested to hear the opinions of the Youth panel who all had different experiences and stories to tell on seeking employment in the current economic climate.

The point of the convention was to stimulate a larger national debate about youth employment and unemployment and what better way to kick-start a conference than to listen to the opinions of a range of different young people.

Those on the panel were enthusiastic, funny, articulate and spoke powerfully. They absolutely stole the show.

It was interesting for me to hear that one of the main barriers that young people face when looking for employment is a lack of confidence and self-esteem, as well as the motivation to keep trying over and over again when faced with multiple rejections.

The Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust helps break down the barriers and fears that young people are experiencing. It’s about making young people feel good about themselves, and supporting them whilst they strive to achieve their potential.

I felt a massive sense of pride when I heard the young people speak because it felt like I was part of something that was making a difference and that felt good.

I said in my speech that we need to trust in our young people more and support them as they try to develop and make a contribution to society.

Young people are our future. It is up to families, government, schools, charities and other parties to harness that potential and give them the best possible chance to succeed.

Photographs courtesy of Andy Barker