Who makes community sport amazing
I'd like to start this week's blog by remembering my wonderful friend, and fellow community builder, Hannah Corne. I first met Hannah over 20 years ago, when we both went to the same gym, and over the following decades our paths crossed many times, both personally and professionally (she was a non-exec director of parkrun UK for a while, and one of my wife's closest friends). After living with cancer for a number of years, she passed away earlier this year, and will be missed by so many people.
Her legacy will live on however, and for me that means by following her example of absolutely always attacking life with positivity and determination, by contributing to the world to the best of my ability, and by trying my best to be a positive role model for others.
Thank you Hannah, for everything you did for me and my family ❤️
In other news, earlier this week me and Chris Lomax MBE travelled down to London for a one day workshop with the incredible Accenture Innovation Team, with the aim of better understanding how we can turn our Participate World vision into a long-term, scalable and sustainable reality. There were far too many people there to tag in this post, but thanks so much to everyone who made that day so incredibly inspiring. We are truly standing on the shoulders of giants!
Alongside that great session, we found the time to catch up with Tom Neill-Eagle from Plinth to talk all things data, Ben Monro and the team from I Speak Football, the sport diplomacy legend that is Myles Wickstead, and even snuck in a coffee with Rachel Lindley of Five Talents UK - what a trip!
And finally, this morning I got to spend an hour with Andrew Lockwood from the University of Leeds Sport Development Department, to hear all about their amazing Gryphons Abroad South African cycling project, delivered in partnership with The Bambisanani Partnership, the KZN Department of Education and KZN Cycling.
Access to cycling can be life changing in rural areas as children & young people face long walks to access education and employment and KZN Cycling also offer a performance pathway for pupils with the potential to compete locally and nationally.
Their project is the most incredible example of UK community sport doing fantastic work internationally, but in collaboration with local stakeholders, and in a way that creates locally-owned, scalable and sustainable impact. Huge congrats to everyone involved, and I hope we can contribute to the project's continued success in some way.
