The Nations and Regions team managed a busy programme for Seb, at Plymouth on March 13th. The visit had been arranged to support the South West England team's ambition to deliver a lasting legacy inspired by the 2012 Games.
We were met by our guide for the day, Nigel Rowe, Chair of Plymouth Community Sports Network. Our first stop was the Sir John Hunt Community Sports College, named after the leader of the historic 1953 expedition to Mount Everest.
Located in a socially disadvantaged part of the city, this school’s mission is to build students’ self esteem, using sport as the catalyst to improve the health and well being of pupils and their families.
As the photo demonstrates, Seb showed just how high he is prepared to jump to promote the message that the 2012 Games can bring benefits to communities across the whole of the UK:
We were met by the principal, Wendy Brett and her team, and shown around the facilities by lead learners, Josh King and Cody Simmons:
Activites included circuit training, for both able bodied and disabled students, trampolining, dance and gym. A quote from Wendy captures the excitement of the day: 'The students were talking about you all coming and how fantastic it was. They particularly were impressed with the trampoline demonstration. Having someone of Lord Coe's status visiting us is a huge honour and thank you. We will use the visit to continue to drive the health and sport agenda.'
The second school on the programme was Plymstock, a high performing specialist sports college, where we teamed up with Olympics Minister, Tessa Jowell:
Seb and Tessa were introduced to school principal, David Farmer and his indefatigable Director of Sport, Kathy Ford. This was a perfect opportunity to provide encouragement and support to 14-to-15 year old students and engage with young athletes in training*, some of whom are aiming to take part in London 2012.
(* or in Seb’s case, participate in training:
- Colin Jackson eat your heart out!!)
As we were saying our goodbyes at the school, Seb was approached by undergraduate, Katie James, who introduced herself as the grand-daughter of Arthur McAllister, who was Seb’s team manager at the Moscow Olympic Games. Sadly, Arthur passed away in 2006, which added extra poignancy to this special moment.
Next on the agenda was the South West regional summit, entitled “Inspired by the Games – making the Difference”, at Plymouth University. We were shown around by Guy Lavender, Nations and Regions Co-ordinator and Sue Handford, from Team South West.
In addition to providing a key note speech, Seb met with circus acrobats, local artists, young sports ambassadors and we were joined by Olympic swimmer, Sharron Davies, to meet with elite young athletes and their coaches, including the 2008 English Schools U-19 Cross Country Champion, Joanne Harvey.
Seb also had the chance to learn what each of the county stakeholder groups in the South West were planning in order to make a difference around 2012.
Following an inspiring afternoon, Seb and Tessa met with the editors from the local press, before taking part in a town hall meeting with members of the local community.
All in all, a busy and rewarding day.
