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“I won’t accept the loss of lives on our streets.” | Geoff Thompson

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Thompson’s discovery of karate was a result of what he described as an “emotional implosion”, having lost his father at a very young age, and suddenly relocating to East London. Attempting to fit in to the city as a former country boy, Thompson’s identity as a black man felt a little more in question. He even lost his accent in his adaptation, he tells The AMG. The move was not entirely negative though, as Thompson began to engage with school activities and youth clubs, fully immersing himself in the new community. He soon discovered a local leisure centre where he saw Professor Tatsuo Suzuki disposing of individuals much larger than himself.

Fast forward to the 1980s, Geoff became a household name on the karate scene, winning gold at the 1982 World Karate Championships, silver at the 1983 European Karate Championships, gold at the 1985 World Games, and silver at the 1986 World Karate Championships. He accredits his mental and physical discipline to his success, as well as “a greater respect and understanding of myself and a great respect and understanding of others”.

Thompson wins gold at the 1985 World Games

Although the 80s was a decorated decade for Thompson, he was highly aware of his position as an ethnic minority in a minority sport, and “labels were always going to be associated”. Thompson knew that he was representing the black British population and saw it as his duty to show the power of sport: “at a time of riots, social, racial and civil unrest and political polarisation, it was very much a case of being mindful that when I took to the competition square, I was winning for more than just myself and that very much reflected the times of which I represented Britain. And there is no greater honour than leading a Great Britain team.”

Thompson’s fight, however, was not only on the mat. Following his success Thompson found himself profoundly affected by the death of Benji Stanley in 1993, who was shot aged 14 in Moss Side, Manchester. He understood that there was a fundamental need for young men who experience unfavourable circumstances to have an outlet in the arts and sports. Thompson consequently set up the Youth Charter, and alongside his wife Janice, they have made it their life’s work to see charity help the younger generation who are in need. “Everybody’s advocating for some form of sport for development in lives of young people” Thompson explains, “we should be able to do better and if we could truly come collectively together with the origins of the journey, I think we can meet the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”

Geoff Thompson age 62, Karate hopeful
Picture; Kevin Quigley/Daily Mail. 15/04/20

The combination of sport and helping disadvantaged young people is now what is spurring Thompson on. After over 35 years of absence from karate, Thompson planned to win £10k for the Youth Charter in a televised karate ‘clash’ to raise awareness. The charity needed ‘social coaches’ or youth workers who could guide the younger generation and re-establish their trust. But like many people’s plans in 2020, Thompson’s bid for a big cash prize was put on hold due to COVID-19.

In his training for the event Thompson realised he “wasn’t too far off the current generation”, and though age may slow many in terms of speed and endurance, Thompson was certain his combative skills lay dormant, and were ready for a re-awakening. It was in fact his wife who floated the idea of aiming for Tokyo 2021. “I was tested enough to establish the confidence that it was possible” Thompson says, and his campaign for helping the youth of today “became a greater campaign of intent purpose.”

With the help of his trainer and fellow karateka, Janice, and his children who train and spar with him, Thompson’s fitness is at an “elite” level. Not only does Thompson want to raise awareness for the Youth Charter, but he hopes to inspire more senior athletes to chase their dreams, regardless of their age.

Geoff Thompson age 63, Karate hopeful
Trains with wife Janice
Picture; Kevin Quigley/Daily Mail. 15/04/20

There are some barriers in Thompson’s bid due to his sudden re-emergence on the scene, yet he remains unfazed for his “skill, suppleness, speed, strength, and spirit are all applied now” – he just needs to be given a chance to show what he has got. Thompson’s competitive and life journeys have given him ultimate clarity: “it has completely informed me with the confidence, not arrogance, but confidence of what I’m able to do.”

“I’m of the belief that you never fail” Thompson says sagely, “and you only learn by losing. So, whatever I won’t accept in the loss of lives on our streets, I’m more than prepared to accept in what this journey represents going forward.”

Kangen Team UK Partner Para Table Tennis Star, Martin Perry

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The 12-month paid deal will see 51 times international medal winner Perry become a Kangen Team UK (www.kangenteam.co.uk) ambassador and help promote the brand in a variety of ways.  The Kangen Team UK logo will appear on his training shorts, shirts and other training clothing; Perry will create bespoke content & share regular social media posts talking about the benefits of Kangen alkaline water and he will engage regularly with Kangen Team UK employees over zoom and face-to-face meetings to inspire performance.
For over four decades, Japan-based Enagic International who produce the Kangen Water machines has been the leading manufacturer of alkaline ionizers and water filtration machines in the world.   Their passion is to transform the tap water in your home into pure healthy electrolyzed-reduced and hydrogen-rich drinking water.
Jen Lowe, Brand Manager for Kangen Team UK said, “It is an absolute honour and a pleasure to sponsor Martin on his way to becoming a Gold Medal winner at the Tokyo Paralympics.  There is a great synergy between healthy drinking water and good health, and “not all water is created equal..!  What better a way to promote this than with someone
as inspirational and successful as Martin.”
Para Table Tennis player Martin Perry commented, “I am proud and delighted to be partnering with Kangen Team UK at this critical time in my sporting journey.  By representing them as an official brand ambassador I am excited to highlight the enormous health benefits of drinking alkaline water and will use my usual high energy and creativity to bring their brand values to life in new & different ways through content creation, social media activity & more.”
The partnership was constructed with the support of Perry’s sports marketing agency, The Athlete Media Group.
For more details go to www.kangenteam.co.uk. 

“People with a disability or an impairment are very resilient because they have to be” | The FA Role Models

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Currently, almost 1 in 5 people in England have a long-standing limiting disability, illness or condition reports The FA. Recognising this, football has undergone a great deal of positive change in England. Now, the FA has two under-21 squads, six male elite squads and one female elite squad, covering a large portion of the disability spectrum.

“Honestly, I’d never imagined I’d become a Paralympic footballer” begins Alistair Patrick-Heselton when reflecting on his journey into the sport. “I turned away from it initially” he explains, “but the more and more I researched about it I thought, ‘actually, I could give it a go’”. After a car crash which claimed the life of his friend, Alistair had to come to terms with the fact that he could no longer play football as he knew it. Evidently talented from a young age, Alistair had signed for QPR after being a schoolboy with Wycombe Wanderers and having a short spell with Oldham Athletic. He continued to play semi-professionally with Northwood and finally Wingate & Finchley. However, his journey towards professional premier league football was cut short by the traumatic brain injury caused by accident, resulting in a 2 month coma and a verdict from doctors that he may never walk again.

Alistair Patrick-Heselton

It is no surprise that Alistair had not considered para-football before, as statistics from 2017 by the FA show that only 3.4% of English football clubs have a disability team, this translating as 769 out of 22,450 clubs. Although it is a small percentage, it is a number which is steadily growing.

Similar to Alistair, footballer Stephen Daley played “mainstream football” up to under-18 level, but was diagnosed as visually impaired and eventually had a reduction in his sight as a teenager. He, too, was unaware of the glory he would achieve later on in life with para-football, and initially gave up the sport because he no longer enjoyed it: “It was one of them careers you either made or you didn’t.”

Fascinatingly, Stephen’s visual impairment did not affect his skill in the football game. Though it did force him to understand the game from a new perspective, he discusses how “if you played the game, you don’t really lose your technical aspect”. With decreased visibility, Stephen said he had to “learn about how [his] impairment affected how you play in a game”. Though it was an uphill battle, Stephen’s ability to refine his spatial awareness has paid off: not only has he had a long career of 25 years he also represented England 143 times, captaining the team and leading them in both world and European championships. Towards the end of his career, Stephen played back to back world cup finals.

Stephen Daley MBE (right)

Even though life has often proved challenging for Alistair and Stephen, they remain undeterred in sharing their story about how they overcame physical adversity to achieve sporting greatness. Now, the two have become FA Role models and hope to inspire the public to recognise that physical limitations do not have to curtail one’s ambitions. Though it is an entirely voluntary role, it is something which both athletes take great pride in. “I don’t think it really dawned on me [until] the back-end of my career” Stephen says in reflection. “My view was that I always play to do the best that I could do and lead by example…I don’t think that someone can teach you that because you’ve got to have certain qualities to be part of England [football team], but also then to be a captain.” He admits that he never really considered himself as a role model until the latter stages, where he realised that his advice and experience could be extremely influential.

Although the taste for glory has been something which spurred both athletes on, Alistair believes that Paralympic-level football has allowed him to ground himself and understand the sport on a deeper level. Though he was originally told that football would be impossible to play after the injuries he sustained, Alistair made his England debut at the Cerebral Palsy International Sport and Recreation World Championships and scored: “when your team mates run over and start hugging you, you’re thinking ‘wow, this is what football is all about’”. Since then, Alistair represented Great Britain at the London 2012 Olympics and was inducted to the National Football Museum Hall Of Fame.

Today, the duo are hoping to inspire the next generation, as well as making the sporting community more aware of what it is like to be an athlete with differing abilities and combatting the stigma. Alistair shares that “enjoying what you have” is key if you are searching for satisfaction, regardless of the level of football you are aiming to play at. “The one thing that I’ve always tried to do from all my experiences is to extract the maximum amount of enjoyment from them” he explains, as “striving for things which might not be there” can lead to unhappiness – athlete or not. “You probably find a lot of people with a disability or an impairment are very resilient because they have to be, you know, even getting public transport, going to job interviews sitting in a classroom with other mainstream children because you’re different” is really challenging, Stephen chips in – “but there’s nothing wrong with being different.”

Even though they are no longer playing football, Alistair and Stephen have found that they remain motivated by their experiences. “I know what the days are like when you actually can’t do anything – it’s really boring!” jokes Alistair. “While I’m alive and able to do things, then I’m going to keep on doing it because there will come a day when we feel that we don’t have the fight or the energy to keep doing things that we love doing. So until that day comes, I’m just going to keep the pedal to the metal”.

There is so much to learn from Alistair and Stephen, who have now both retired from the game and hope to teach people about their experience. When asked on what he would advise himself prior to his Paralympic journey, Alistair says that his advice would not change as his mentality is the same as when he was an able-bodied young professional: “enjoy every moment and just treat it like it will be your last, because it does go so quickly.”

Feeling the London Love – London Youth Games mission for inclusivity is on a positive trajectory

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Summarising the mission, the London Youth Games’ CEO Andy Dalby-Welsh states “Our mission is to use the power of competitive sport to create life changing opportunities for all young Londoners”, and the emphasis is on competitive. Creating opportunities for young people to represent their borough “and take pride in it” allows a sense of importance, which is paramount for the physical and mental wellbeing of today’s youth.

But why is London so special? Andy believes that London is a “unique place” and an “amazing capital city” due to its diversity. In 2020 it was reported that London is ‘one of the most international and multi-ethnic cities in the world’, with over 2 in 5 Londoners coming from an ethnic minority background. The varied population of the city is a major influence for LYG’s mission, as they seek to bring communities together.

Interestingly, YouGov reported that on a global level people believed the pandemic had increased their sense of community, with 37% of Brits reporting a greater sense of social togetherness. However, YouGov also reported that 53% of young Brits aged 16-24 felt that their life had worsened during the pandemic. It is clear that we need ways of combatting the loneliness with social cohesion, and sport is a possible way to do this.

“I think sport can play such a huge part in bringing communities together, [and] bringing people together” Andy tells AMG. The physical and mental health benefits are one advantage, but so is the ability to be viewed on a platform which showcases the talents of young Londoners. This year, the LYG hosted the Virtual Inclusive Games: a virtual tournament for young people between all the London boroughs, which included challenges in football, cricket, basketball, hockey, rugby, athletics, volleyball, and tennis/table tennis. A bit of healthy competition serves as a great way of encouraging involvement as the statistics LYG have collected testify. The Virtual Inclusive Games, and other online activities coordinated and supported by LYG, recorded an amazing 80,000 entries during the third lockdown alone.

Andy’s personal experience in sport heavily shaped the Virtual Inclusive Games, for he greatly benefitted from disability sports when he was younger. Due to his vision deteriorating in his 20s, Andy came across a cricket team in Sussex for the visually impaired. Though he had been sporty throughout his childhood, his involvement in the cricket team was the most significant. Through this club Andy was able to represent England at the Blind Cricket World Cup in India. Drawing on his experience he points out that being disabled is a great enough challenge for a young person, but to be active and disabled in particularly hard because it required extra support; “the pandemic has taken an even greater toll on those young people”, thus a fully inclusive competition was required. Andy wants to make certain that every young person gets the opportunity to benefit from sport as he did.

The LYG are keen to demonstrate that sport is for anyone and everyone, and they strive to guarantee that no matter who you are or your background, that there’s an offer within the London Youth Games that can be for you. The pandemic has shown that inequalities remain in British society, whether this is in a sporting context or not. One way of combatting such inequalities was having disabled young people set the challenges for the Virtual Inclusive Games, raising the profile of youth and disability sports via a sporting platform. Sport needs to be more inclusive says Andy, and the trajectories are looking more and more positive. Nonetheless, we still need to push hard to get more people from a wider variety of backgrounds involved in sport.

LYG is a huge advocate for purposeful, all-inclusive sport, and they are continuing to grow year on year. Pre-pandemic, the organisation was reaching around 120’000 young people across London each year, and they hope that as the country attempts to return to normal, they can continue to make even more of a difference in young Londoners lives. LYG is now hosting a Virtual Spring Run competition to help encourage young Londoners back to sport, and the borough that runs the furthest collective distance at the end of the two-week competition will be crowned Virtual Spring Run champions.

The most engaged boroughs during the Virtual Inclusive Games were Bromley (1st), Kensington and Chelsea (2nd) and Havering and Haringey (joint 3rd). For the full results, visit https://www.londonyouthgames.org/virtual-games/.

 

 

 

YuYu Bottle partners with TAMG for athlete ambassadors

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2016 Olympic Gold medallist Hannah Mills MBE, 2014 Rugby World Cup winner Marlie Packer, Team GB & world #15 triathlete Sophie Coldwell, and 4 x youth world champion windsurfer Saskia Sills and her British Sailing counterpart twin sister Imogen Sills, will benefit from the partnership that will involve acting as brand ambassadors for the YuYu Bottle brand.

The YuYu Bottle is the world’s first wearable, multi-climate and body length water bottle and was first introduced to the world at Harrods in Knightsbridge, London, in 2012. It reached this prestigious department store’s list of 20 best selling products only 14 weeks into its launch. Since then, YuYu has grown from a company being run from a living room in Wimbledon, where friends and family handpacked each and every YuYu Bottle themselves, to becoming the provider of an internationally loved article and symbol of warmth. The 81cm long revolutionary invention by Richard Yu uses biodegradable natural rubber and promotes a more sustainable way of how we can keep our bodies cool or warm in our day to day lives.

The YuYu has managed to build a strong sporting base with former Team GB Olympic runner and British 800m record holder, Jo Fenn (née Mersh) hired in 2018, as their athlete & wellbeing ambassador. They also signed the British athletics champions, Laviai and Lina Nielsen, in 2020 as their first athlete ambassadors.

The Athlete Media Group (TAMG) is the sports agency powered by purpose set up by media industry veteran, Mark Middlemas, in 2019. The agency’s aim is to make more meaningful, purposedriven connections between super hero athletes, their sports & like-minded brands and represents a number of elite athletes who are also catalysts for societal change away from their sports.

Richard Yu, founder of YuYu Bottle, said,

“I’m delighted to be associated with such talented & inspirational athletes who are making our invention even more revolutionary by taking it out of the home and into the sports field.”

Mark Middlemas, CEO & founder of TAMG commented,

“2020 was an incredibly tough year for many UK elite athletes both financially and mentally. To partner with such a warm, welcoming and inspiring brand like YuYu means these world class female athletes can bounce back even better from lockdown. YuYu’s team are right behind their journeys and we’re thrilled to be collaborating on some really exciting product and content projects together.”

“Mental health and well-being are incredibly important to the long term success and health of an athlete” | Kirstie Urwin

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“For me, being an athlete is so much more than striving to win day in, day out” Urwin reflects. “Whilst wanting to win inevitably drives me, the journey that I am taking, the skills I am acquiring and the experiences I have the privilege of encountering are shaping me into a much more diverse and well-rounded individual; all of which will continue to give me satisfaction and value far beyond my retirement from sport. However, this ‘win at all costs’ mentality is a trait that I do not wish to be associated with anymore.”

This epiphany has led Urwin to be a mentor for the True Athlete Project (TAP), a programme which strives to work with athletes who see the value and potential that their sport provides whilst teaching them to use that value in a way that drives compassion and positive social change. The aim of the programme is to support the person behind the young athlete, and prove that when the person flourishes, so does their sporting performance. TAP recognises the power of sport as an influential social movement, yet hopes to raise awareness surrounding the wellbeing of athletes with the promotion of constructive, inclusive cultures.

Photo by Musto

The universality of mental health and the difficulties to speak up about it is what steered Urwin to undertake a mental health first aid course. “When I completed the course there were people from all different areas of the British Sailing Team (athletes, coaches, support staff) also completing the course. Everyone had their own story of struggles they have faced regarding their own mental health or that of someone they were close with….It’s really easy to think you are alone in how you are feeling, when the reality is that we all struggle sometimes” explains Urwin. “Mental health struggles can feel really lonely and the knowledge that most people have or will experience some of what you might be experiencing in their lifetime was really reassuring to me.”

Tackling the stigma is something we can all make an effort towards, and elite athletes have great power in this movement. Looking back, Urwin believes that “[historically] athletes have been revered by the general public as figures of strength, and as result any athlete who revealed any mental health struggles were regarded as weak. There was a misconception that mental health struggles and performance were mutually exclusive, when the reality is that everyone sits on a mental health continuum and many athletes struggle everyday but still perform at the highest level”. Urwin’s opinion is echoed by West Ham United Women’s performance coach , Jenny Coady, who states that mental health “wasn’t on the agenda” when she was an athlete. Investing in mental health, Coady tells the BBC, is a marginal gain which we need to push for.

Photo by Musto

Speaking up and asking for help is vital, and something which needs to be adapted and normalised in sport. Urwin is positive that sport is going in the right direction – “The more athletes that speak up about this issue, high profile or not, the more traction the campaign will gain” – but she is also certain that sport can do more. Instead of winning-at-all costs, Urwin favours the mentality of ‘Excellence in performance’: “The word excellence encompasses the attitudes and values that elite sport should be striving towards more neatly” says Urwin, and this achieves success “without compromising athletic integrity”.

Photo by YUYU BOTTLE

“There is something really powerful about an athlete revealing their mental health struggles and their ability to confront them whilst performing on the world stage” Urwin summarises. “The more we as athletes can build awareness that it is ‘okay to not be okay’ and that even the strongest of us sometimes struggle, the more positive the culture in sport surrounding mental health will become.

Down but not out – boxing heartbreak to wrestling hope

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Anthony Ogogo quickly understood that the sport was his vocation, training regularly and climbing the ranks. A stickler for discipline, it was not long until Ogogo’s hard work paid off. He became national champion for his age category multiple times, and after three years he was selected to represent England at the 2004 Junior Olympics in Texas. It was a huge opportunity for Ogogo, who recalls that it was his first time he had travelled by air. Not only did he claim the gold medal, but Ogogo also clinched the ‘most outstanding boxer’ award at the tournament. For him, this was both a source of inspiration and a major turning point: what could he do if he fully immersed himself in the sport, and how far could he go? “From then I used to pester my coach to open up in the mornings before school, and I’d train after school…I was just obsessed”.

From this point on, Ogogo was keen to reach the top and claim Olympic gold. He hatched a plan to go to the 2011 European Championships to get seeded for the World Championships in October, with qualification for the 2012 Olympics as the eventual goal. His plan of action was scuppered when the opponent from the first round dislocated Ogogo’s shoulder, causing Ogogo to fight literally single-handedly and lose by a single point. He was then presented with a major dilemma.

Ogogo had to choose either immediate surgery and missing Olympic qualification which would risk his spot being taken by another athlete, or rehab the shoulder whilst running the risk that he would not be ready come October. If he failed to qualify in the first competition he would have less than 6 months to have surgery and rehab the shoulder to get back to ‘match fitness’ in time for the next qualifier. By avoiding sparring for many months Ogogo managed to rehab in time for the World Championships, however the injured shoulder re-dislocated in the second round. Although he managed to win some fights without the use of his left arm, his World Championships soon came to an end after losing by a narrow margin in the match which would qualify him for London 2012. His only option now it seemed was shoulder surgery, cutting a 12 month recovery time in half.

Ogogo was hellbent on reaching the Olympics. Despite the gruelling pain, glory was within reaching distance and he returned to the second qualifiers only to face the opponent who dislocated his shoulder in 2011. Having “seen red”, Ogogo came back from a 6 point deficit to win the match and qualify for the Olympics. It seemed as if the hardest part of the journey towards being an Olympian was over.

Whilst training in Sheffield with the GB team, Ogogo received a phone call from his sister who alerted him that his mother had suffered a brain aneurysm – it was touch and go whether she would make it. He quickly made the journey south to find her on life support, where she remained in a coma for months leading up to the Olympics – “For me, the Olympics had gone from the most important thing in the world to the least important thing in the world because my mum was about to die.”

As a result of the emotional turmoil Ogogo’s focus was severely disrupted. He considered skipping the Olympics altogether, fearful that his mother would pass when he wasn’t there. In the face of uncertainty, his sisters pleaded with him to go, reminding him that if his mother recovered she would be heartbroken if he had surrendered his Olympic dream. Knowing that his sisters were right, he returned to Sheffield for a week of training before dancing under the lights at ExCel London.

His first match ended 13-6, beating Dominican boxer Junior Castillo on the first day of competition. Though a strong win for Ogogo, he was still grappling with a broken rib, a badly damaged shoulder, a torn Achilles and the after-effects of a month off training due to spending time by his mother’s bedside. However, because he was not a seeded fighter Ogogo faced an ugly draw, meeting the world number one Ievgen Khytrov from the Ukraine (who could “punch like a horse”) very early on. Though Khytrov had not lost a fight in 2 years, Ogogo pushed through the pain of his shoulder and broken ribs to finish the fight on equal points. Waiting for the judges’ decision only lasted 5 minutes, but “felt like 3 years” for the boxers. The delivered verdict was that Ogogo was the more deserving fighter thus he advanced to the quarter finals, which The Guardian reported as ‘one of the biggest upsets of the Games’.

Beating Germany’s Stefan Härtel in the quarter finals, Ogogo faced Esquiva Falcão Florentino from Brazil in the semi final but lost 16-9, which saw him claim Bronze. Though proud of how far he had come despite the circumstances, Ogogo was disappointed that he could not claim gold at the games – “I should have won the gold medal because I was good enough to win the gold medal.” Reflecting back on his experience of the Olympics causes mixed emotions for Ogogo. He achieved the dream and proved many people wrong, yet it was also a time of turbulence as his mother was still in a comatose state. Thankfully, his mother recovered, and his decision to compete paid off after all.

Following the Olympics Ogogo decided to turn professional, but his career was plagued with injuries to his Achilles and the shoulder he dislocated during his amateur career. He recovered from these injuries slowly, but in 2016 he experienced a “freak punch” which resulted in a broken eye socket. What Ogogo did not know was that this would be his last ever fight, for the punch had shattered the socket into 8 separate fractures. In an attempt to save his career he underwent 9 operations and 2 injections on the eye and the socket over the next 3 years but to no avail. He became blind in his left eye, and had to throw in the towel once and for all.

Ogogo’s retirement in 2019 was filled with grief. Having boxed since the age of 12, he felt that he had lost his identity and felt “crestfallen”. When asked by an interviewer what he would do next he jokingly responded that he was considering becoming a wrestler, having been a fan of the sport. Little did he know that this was to become his next major step in his sports career.

Following the interview he flew to the USA, where he was offered a contract with All Elite Wrestling. Though he still feels that boxing was his true calling, he finds that wrestling scratches the itch, commenting that “It’s mad. [Wrestling] is completely different, but it’s also the same. It’s more entertainment driven, but it’s a unique industry. There’s nothing else like it. It’s the perfect combination of boxing, UFC and theatre. It gives me a chance to show my true showmanship.”

Now, Ogogo plans to take wrestling all the way and become world champion. The memories and training which he experienced in boxing have set him up perfectly to be an incredible fighter in an entirely new sport. “I’ve got loads to learn and loads of room to grow as a person and as a fighter” he says. Ogogo has not had it easy, but he is confident that this was his fate: “Right now, this is where I want to be”.

 

“I’m running five marathons in 50 hours for kids with the world’s rarest disease…”

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Inspired by a 12-year-old schoolgirl named Aggie Candy-Waters, extreme athlete Darren Hardy is planning one of his toughest challenges yet, to run 5 marathons, nonstop, in 50 hours.

During his 5 in 50 challenge Darren will run continuously without sleeping, carrying everything he needs in an Osprey backpack from his nutrition provided by Resilient Nutrition to water, wet kit, warm kit and first aid kit.

The 35-year-old former soldier and father of two who lives in Fleet, will start his challenge from Poole at 8am on Friday 9th April and run south along the coast as far as Abbotsbury, west of Weymouth, before turning back to Poole.

Darren was inspired to take on the challenge when he heard about a British schoolgirl, Aggie Candy-Waters, who was diagnosed with the world’s rarest disease at the age of five. Now 12 years old, Aggie who used to run, play and sing is permanently in a wheelchair and is rapidly losing her fine motor skills – meaning she is fed, dressed and carried by her parents, and is losing her ability to speak.

“My daughters are two and four and enjoying all the things I know Aggie used to. I can’t imagine the absolute heartbreak that Aggie’s parents will have gone through learning their beautiful, happy girl was going to decline in this way,” explained Hardy. “I immediately got in touch and asked how I could help. It was then that I learned that we could race against time to reach their £1m target to get new life-saving gene therapy developed at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for not only Aggie, but for two more young children called Frankie, age five and Sofia, nine. This was when I came up with the idea of running five marathons in 50 hours, with every penny going towards gene therapy treatment for children with H-ABC; 5in50!”

There are 200 children in the world like Aggie and most are diagnosed around the age of three or four, when their parents notice that their development is slower than other children of their age.

Ali Candy-Waters, Aggie’s mum, said: “H-ABC is the world’s rarest brain disease. People simply haven’t heard of it, so in our darkest moments we wonder if we can ever get to our £1m target in time. Then we hear from someone like Darren, and we feel like there could be a chance.”

Darren, a 15 year military veteran who struggled with PTSD to the point of suicide but found a disciplined approach to resilence through sport, is a double gold medallist and Warrior Games record breaker completed numerous extreme sports challenges for charity in 2020, raising £24,000. 5in50 is up there with the toughest. “I’m preparing for the run by getting up at 4:20 every day at home and hitting the hills, as well as strength work in my home gym” explained Darren. “I’m calling on my sleep deprivation training from the military to help me keep awake, and the energy provided from Resilient Nutrition.”

Darren would also like to thank Resilient Nutrition and Osprey for their support in making this challenge possible.

To support Darren and donate to this valuable cause, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/darren-hardy123

For more information contact

Mark Hayward

mark@SwayCommunications.co.uk

07731752096

AMG PARTNERS WITH SUSTAINABLE MARKETING CONSULTANCY, GREEN EYRE

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The partnership will see Green Eyre act as AMG’s official sustainability advisers and in the first instance Green Eyre will run a series of education workshops for AMG athletes and partners whilst also supporting AMG clients and the agency’s new business pitches.  Green Eyre and AMG will also work on new and innovative ways to help promote the sustainability agenda in sport and with athletes.

Green Eyre’s aim is to help companies market a more sustainable future.  CEO 7 Founder, Alexis Eyre,passed the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (an arm of University of Cambridge) certificate in Business Sustainability Management followed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation‘s Linear to Circular Economy course and is aligning her expertise to find a way to help companies future proof themselves though a sustainability lens.

The Athlete Media Group are the sports agency powered by purpose.  They are on a mission to make more meaningful, performance-driving connections between super hero athletes, sports & brands.

Alexis Eyre, CEO & Founder of Green Eyre, said of the deal,

“I’m delighted to be working with Mark & his team of purpose-driven athletes to share my sustainability mission with the sporting world.  Athletes are on the front line of sustainability in sport so the more I can help educate and inspire them the better the future for them, their sport and the planet.”

Mark Middlemas, CEO & Founder of AMG, commented,

“Sustainability is a critical issue for all of us.  Today’s athletes have a unique platform to educate and inspire the wider world and helping them better understand their sustainability footprints and impact can only be a good thing.  Combining athlete performance with planet performance opens up some very exciting ideas and opportunities for elite athletes which we are excited to be partnering with Alexis on.”

“I’ve got that chance to build something & make a difference.” | Hannah Mills MBE

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Plastic pollution is a major problem which directly affects Mills. Her entry into the sport was a humble beginning – she has sailed since the age of 8, having started at a small club in Llanishen, Cardiff. Her realisation that plastic pollution was having a dire effect on the environment was both gradual and sudden. Though she was fond of geography at school she decided not to pursue it at university. Regardless, the pull to live an impactful and purposeful life beyond sailing continued to quietly bubble away.

Mills’ search for Olympic Gold at Rio built at a steady pace over the years. In 2012 it looked like she would seal the deal, winning gold at the World Championships in Barcelona. At the London Olympics it all came down to a tiebreaker race between the GB crew and New Zealand. Sadly it was not to be Mills’ year and she had to settle for silver at her home games. “The toll of London took us aback” Mills disclosed to the British Sailing team YouTube channel, confessing that her and teammate Saskia Clark considered not competing at Rio and calling it a day after winning silver. The decision to put everything on the line again and go for gold in Rio was not one they took lightly, however they found an extraordinary amount of strength to complete another cycle in pursuit of Olympic victory.

It was not only Olympic victory which Mills found at Rio, but a realisation that she had the power to bring forth great change: “spending a lot of time in Rio really opened my eyes to how bad the pollution problem was getting because we see it everywhere we go – we see it on beaches, in marinas, out at sea…but nowhere was quite like what we saw in Rio”.

In August 2016, the National Geographic website reported that Guanabara Bay, the competition site for water-based sports at the Rio Olympics, was full of rubbish, raw sewage, and waste dumped by pharmaceutical companies, refineries, and oil and gas terminals. National Geographic further reported that multiple athletes were ill after training on the polluted water, including Belgian sailor Evi Van Acker.

Mills’ experience ignited something within, and the light-bulb moment made her realise that she could “do something about this as an athlete and as someone who’s teaching these things, but also if I carry on to Tokyo, I’ve got that chance to build something and hopefully make a difference.”

Fast forward a few months later, Mills began to formulate what is now known as the Big Plastic Pledge – a movement which unifies sporting communities to make a change in their wasteful habits and minimise their impact on the environment. “I think there’s loads we can do as individuals and that’s kind of partly why I set up the Big Plastic Pledge” Mills explains. It is the smaller actions which, if endorsed as a collective, can have the largest effects.

Slowly but surely, we are beginning to see a change in attitudes towards the environment in sport. In the UK there is a developing shift towards greener sport, particularly in football. Forest Green Rovers football club in Gloucestershire have been dubbed by FIFA as “the world’s greenest football club”, introducing multiple sustainability measures by targeting their food sources, energy provisions, a pesticide-free pitch, and electric transportation. Tottenham Hotspur have also made notable changes, and plan to phase out and eventually eliminate the use of ‘plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery and all plastic disposable packaging that accompanies these items’ at their stadium. The Big Plastic Pledge identifies the refusal of single-use plastics and the encouragement of reusable coffee and beverage cups, food containers and cutlery as a great method of reducing plastic pollution.

Mills has now set course for the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, and she plans to stimulate conversation surrounding plastic pollution as she does so. In December 2020 it was announced that she was to become an International Olympic Commission sustainability ambassador, alongside Norwegian rower Martin Helseth. The position will allow Mills to spread the word of collective environmental responsibility in sports, encouraging not only athletes but fans to be more considerate of their actions and inspiring those who are less aware of the European roadmap for a more sustainable future. A sustainable Olympics is a major part of the IOC’s agenda, with Paris 2024 set to be the first ‘climate positive’ Olympics.

For Mills, using the Olympics as a platform for sustainability is critical: “sporting events like the Olympics [are] almost like mini-cities in a way because of how they work, how many people are involved, how much infrastructure is required, all that kind of stuff is a really good testing ground for innovation and new ideas… if we can prove the concept [of plastic pollution reduction] at big sporting events like that, with the sort of platform that those big sporting events have to talk about and promote what they’re doing, the chances of accelerating these new ideas into wider society can be integrated a lot quicker”.

The road to Olympic glory has been testing for Mills, as she hopes to go for gold again in the 470 class with new partner Eilidh McIntyre. Mills was hoping to retire in 2020 post-games, but due to the pandemic she was forced to rethink. With a title to defend she is aware that the racing will be all guns blazing, with rivals hoping to pip one of the most dominant teams this Olympic cycle has seen. “I definitely feel it’s a bit of a target on our backs at times, but that’s cool. It’s a good place to be” says Mills. She is unfazed by the feat ahead and immensely collected. Mills is one of Britain’s athletic titans, and one of the most influential at that.

Visit https://bigplasticpledge.com for more information.

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