Entering the Hall of Fame
It’s been another fun week in Participate World. On Wednesday I was honoured to be inducted into the Leeds Beckett University Sport Hall of Fame at the Carnegie School Of Sport. Having completed a Masters Degree in Sport and Exercise Science there in 2005, and then last year being awarded an Honorary Doctorate in the same subject. Also during that 20 year time period I’ve had the good fortune to collaborate and spend time with a whole load of great people with their own links to the University, and so I really do feel part of the Leeds Beckett family.
It was particularly nice to catch up with Jack Maitland and Malcolm Brown who, with the support of others of course, turned Leeds into arguably the most successful triathlon centre of excellence in the history of the world. What I find most inspiring about their journey is that, although they did have brilliant support from both of Leeds’ main universities, they achieved what they did despite not having anywhere near the most funding or the best facilities.
What was (and still is) so special about their group is the culture they developed and the incredible dedication with which they applied themselves to achieving their great vision. They really do set an incredible example for all of us who are looking to achieve amazing things and leave our own positive mark on the world.
Keeping it in my world for a minute, on Thursday I dropped into a Board meeting of The Man Walk Australia Incorporated, based in Sydney, Australia. Founded by the brilliant Mark Burns, who I was introduced to by the equally brilliant Glen Turner GAICD, it’s been great spending time online with Burnsy over the last few months. They are already achieving incredible things around men’s mental health, and I really hope we can add value to what they do and play a small part in ensuring their long term success.
Chris Lomax MBE and I feel passionately about supporting the next generation of community sport organisations, and are dedicating roughly one third of our time to establishing an incubator-type programme for those organisations who wish to achieve impact at scale. It’s been great developing this project in 2025, and we hope that in 2026 we can turn the programme into something that’s scalable and can be of benefit to many more organisations. Watch this space.
And finally, talking of Chris, he headed off to Kenya yesterday morning, where we’re developing our thoughts around community sport across the country. In collaboration with Hywel George from Griot Ltd and Simon Watson, we think we can contribute significantly to the community sport landscape in Kenya. Unfortunately, with my Daughter’s 14th birthday yesterday and Harrogate junior parkrun celebrating their 10th birthday on Sunday, I passed on this trip, but can’t wait to get out there myself in the near future.