Wimbledon MP To Meet Double Olympic Champion
Health Minister Stephen Hammond to visit Daley Thompson Athletics Academy for Schools in action
On Thursday, (June 7th) Stephen Hammond - Minister of State at the Department of Health & Social Care and MP for Wimbledon, Raynes Park, Morden and Motspur Park, will be attending Donhead School, Wimbledon to learn about the work of Daley Thompson Athletics Academies in schools.
Minister of State at the Department of Health & Social Care
The Government Front Bench Minister will be meeting Daley’s coaches, seeing them at work with pupils and also talking to Daley’s co-Founder Kate Staples - former record-breaking GB pole vaulter and TV Gladiator ‘Zodiac’.
Double Olympic decathlon champion, World Champion, European Champion & World Record holder Daley Thompson is an icon of British sport. He and former TV Gladiator and GB athlete Kate Staples joined up to follow their joint passion for and commitment to introducing children to the fun, energy and excitement of physical activity. Their programmes, based around the foundations of nearly all sporting movement - running, jumping and throwing, have now reached dozens of schools and well over 1000 children.
Daley’s Academies are designed to be energising, confidence building, fun, inspiring and entirely inclusive. The idea is not to necessarily to unearth champion athletes of the future, but to use athletics as a basis to give children a great time, to be active, burn off energy, learn good habits and to develop what could be a lifelong appreciation of physical activity and fitness.
Lord Sebastian Coe, President of the IAAF said: “Today’s children are the least active generation in history and could be the first to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. I welcome any initiative which encourages more young people to become active. Daley Thompson’s Athletics Academies are a fantastic opportunity for young people to get fit, develop skills and to have fun within schools and local communities.”
June 4, 2019