Posts in Wells Sports Foundation
BOX 4 KIDS AT WIGAN WARRIORS
Posted in:
Barrie Wells, Box 4 Kids, Wells Sports Foundation
On Sunday 7th April 2013, Wakefield Wildcats travelled to the DW Stadium to battle it out with Wigan Warriors and three deserving children from the local area were able to witness the game in style!
Tagged with: Rugby League Cares, Super League, Wigan Warriors
BOX 4 KIDS AT WARRINGTON WOLVES
Posted in:
Barrie Wells, Box 4 Kids, Wells Sports Foundation
On Monday 1st April 2013, four deserving young Wolves fans, nominated by Warrington General Hospital, were invited to be Box 4 Kids VIP guests at the clash between Warrington Wolves and London Broncos.
Tagged with: Rugby League Cares, Super League , Warrington Wolves
BUCKO MAKES IT A HAT-TRICK!
Posted in:
Athletes 4 Schools, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
On 7th April 2013, Wells Sports Foundation Ambassador Mark Buckingham won his third successive British Elite Duathlon title at Prestwold Airfield.
Tagged with: Adam Bowden, British Elite Duathlon , Mark Buckingham
BETH CROWNED ICE QUEEN
Posted in:
Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Olympic gymnast bronze medallist and Wells Sports Foundation Ambassador, Beth Tweddle, skated away as Dancing on Ice Champion 2013 after tough competition from rival Matt Lapinskas.
Tagged with: Beth Tweddle, British Gymnastics, London 2012, Olympics
EUROPEAN GOLD FOR HOLLY
Posted in:
Athletes 4 Schools, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
The Wells Sports Foundation's Ambassador, Holly Bleasdale beats defending champion Anna Rogowska to take the European pole vault gold!
Tagged with: European Athletics Indoor Championships , Holly Bleasdale, Pole vault
BARRIE REFLECTS ON LONDON 2012
Posted in:
Barrie Wells, Wells Sports Foundation
A few days before the opening of London 2012, it occurred to me that since I began my project involving Olympic hopefuls 4 years ago, I hadn't actually sat down to reflect on my journey... I'd just been way too busy!
Tagged with: London 2012, Olympics
OUR WAY FORWARD
Posted in:
Athletes 4 Schools, Box 4 Kids, Wells Sports Foundation
Now that the London Olympics are over its time to get back to reality and look at how we can continue to make a difference through its legacy.
Tagged with: Athletes 4 Schools, Box 4 Kids, Olympic Legacy
BETH TWEDDLE: THANK YOU ALL
Posted in:
Barrie Wells, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Tagged with: Barrie Wells, Beth Tweddle, British Gymnastics
OUR ATHLETES SUCCESS IN LONDON
Posted in:
Barrie Wells, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
After 16 days of Olympic euphoria, the London Olympics have sadly come to an end.
For the Wells Sports Foundation’s team of athletes, it has been an awesome couple of weeks, with our Patron and face of the Games, Jess Ennis, achieving her long term dream of Gold. To deliver under the conditions of such public expectation shows true greatness.
Tagged with: 2012 London Olympics, Jessica Ennis
LET THE GAMES BEGIN
Posted in:
Barrie Wells, Wells Sports Foundation
Tonight the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics kicks off 3 weeks of undeniable history in the making.
Since I began my journey funding Olympic hopefuls 4 years ago, I don't think I have actually sat down to think about this day arriving... I've just been way too busy!
But my journey is now about to climax and after
21 athletes supported and
11 selected, the time has come to witness my team of athletes fight it out for places on the podium.
I believe that 3 definitely should win medals and there are another 6 that definitely could. But having got to know them all personally and been closely involved in their progress, to watch each one of them step out onto the Olympic track in front of millions of home supporters will be an amazing experience in itself.
Let the Games begin!
The Foundation will not be updating its website over the coming period but Barrie and the team will be Tweeting updates throughout with our athletes progress via @WellsSports.
To find out more about how Barrie has supported our team of hopefuls visit our Athletes Barrie has Supported page.
Tagged with: London Olympics 2012
KAT JUMPS OUT OF THE PIT AT WORLD JNR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Posted in:
Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Katarina struck again this weekend jumping a massive 6.81 metres personal best to win gold in the long jump at the World Junior Championships in Barcelona.
Having also recently been selected for the heptathlon for the London Olympics and smashed
Jessica Ennis's British junior heptathlon record,
Katarina is proving herself to be a future star of track and field.
Tagged with: Dai Greene, Katarina Johnson Thompson, World Junior Championships
DAI GREENE MADE TEAM GB CAPTAIN FOR LONDON
Posted in:
Other Related News, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Our athlete, 400m hurdling world champion, Dai Greene, has accepted the honour to captain Team GB's athletics team at the London Olympics.
With this being
Dai's first Olympics and already being named one of Britain's biggest hopes for a gold medal, the opportunity is the icing on the cake.
Tagged with: Dai Greene, Team GB Captain
SUCCESS FOR FREYJA AS PART OF EUROPEAN TEAM
Posted in:
Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Freyja made up the Team trio with Katy Burke and Heather Fell and won a bronze medal in the team relay and a silver medal in the overall team competition.
The pentathletes selected to represent Team GB in London, Mhairi Spence and Samantha Murray, missed the European Championships to focus on their preparations for the Olympics but clearly left the occasion in very capable hands.
Tagged with: European Championships 2012, Freyja Prentice
FINAL WELLS SPORTS FOUNDATION OLYMPIC LINE UP
Posted in:
Barrie Wells, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
After 4 years of Barrie personally sponsoring 20 athletes across 4 sports in order to boost their chances of 2012 potential, we are pleased to announce who out of the group have qualified for London 2012.
At the beginning of this project Barrie was convinced that helping to get an athlete a place on the Olympic podium in 2012 would be down to dozens of marginal contributions coming together and working successfully to make a real and lasting difference.
Tagged with: London 2012 Selection
ATHLETICS SQUAD ANNOUNCED FOR LONDON
Posted in:
Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
After an intense week following a nail biting British Trials, athletes today found out their fate for the London Olympics.
Tagged with: Dai Greene, Holly Bleasdale, Jessica Ennis, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Michael Rimmer, Olympic Selection
JENNY MEADOWS' OLYMPIC HOPES CONTINUE
Posted in:
Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Our athlete Jenny Meadows yesterday left her hopes of making the team for the London Olympics hanging in the balance when she was forced to withdraw from the 800m at the European Championships in Helsinki.
Jenny has been out of action this year due to a rare achilles injury so has not been able to obtain a current A standard to prove her form to the selectors.
She made the decision to miss the British Trials in Birmingham last weekend in order to give herself an extra week ahead of the Europeans where she felt she could do herself justice. However, on the day of her first race she pulled out due to her achilles being affected by the flight over to Helsinki.
Tagged with: Jenny Meadows, Michael Rimmer
BEAU SMITH’S TORCH INSPIRED VISIT
Posted in:
Athletes 4 Schools, Wells Sports Foundation
Our local triathlete Beau Smith this week visited Dallas Road Primary School in Lancaster to teach its pupils about the triathlon as part of the school's Olympic Week.
Tagged with: Beau Smith, Dallas Road Primary School
CANARY WHARF TRIUMPH FOR KATIE HEWISON
Posted in:
Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Last night at the GE Canary Wharf Triathlon, our triathlete, Katie Hewison, beat off strong competition from former World Cup winner Liz Blatchford and South African 2012 Olympian Gillian Sanders, to take the coveted title.
Tagged with: British Triathlon, GE Canary Wharf Triathlon, Katie Hewison
DAI GREENE & HOLLY BLEASDALE QUALIFY FOR LONDON
Posted in:
Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
This weekend was an emotional rollercoaster for our athletes as the British Trials took place in Birmingham to determine which individuals would book their places for the London Olympics.
Tagged with: British Trials, Dai Greene, Holly Bleasdale, Jodie Williams, Michael Rimmer
KATARINA’S LIFE THROUGH A LENS
Posted in:
Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Our heptathlete, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, brilliantly made the Olympic A standard last weekend with an incredible personal best of 6,248, which smashed her recently made British junior record.
Off the track, Kat is funny, stylish, loves music and admits her guilty pleasure is watching Jeremy Kyle.
Here Kat has matched images with her own tag lines to give an insight into her life and personality.
Tagged with: Heptathlete, Katarina Johnson Thompson
THUNDER KAT COMMANDS PLACE IN LONDON
Posted in:
Barrie Wells, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Competing at the World Combined Events Challenge in Kladno, Czech Republic, this weekend, Katarina exceeded her own recently set British junior record by a massive 241 points to book her place in London with a comfortable win of 6,248 points.
Tagged with: Barrie Wells, Heptathlon, Katarina Johnson Thompson
OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION FOR SAM WEALE
Posted in:
Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Four of Britain's top modern pentathlon stars have officially booked their spots at the London 2012 Olympics after the British Olympic Association (BOA) announced that Mhairi Spence, Samantha Murray, Nick Woodbridge and our athlete, Sam Weale, have all been officially selected to represent Team GB at the Games.
Tagged with: Freyja Prentice, Modern Pentathlon, Pentathlon GB, Sam Weale
SAM WEALE ACHIEVES QUALIFYING STANDARD FOR LONDON
Posted in:
Other Related News, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
After
Sam failed to make the final at the recent World Championships in Rome, he thought his chance of selection may have gone.
But the World Cup final in Chengdu, China, gave him a last chance to qualify, which he did by finishing in an encouraging 7th place, along with Nick Woodbridge who finished in 5th place.
Tagged with: Freyja Prentice, Modern Pentathlon, Sam Weale
WE REACH 50 VISITS IN LEICESTERSHIRE
Posted in:
Athletes 4 Schools, Wells Sports Foundation
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Since our Athletes 4 Schools scheme launched at the beginning of 2010, we have reached our 50th visit in Leicestershire which in total have reached in excess of 8000 young people.
Tagged with: 50th Visit, Caitlin McClatchey, Inspire Leicestershire, Lizzie Simmonds, Mellor Community Primary School
MODERN PENTATHLON – A BRILLIANT SPECTATOR SPORT
Posted in:
Other Related News, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
At the weekend I attended the modern pentathlon World Championships in Rome to support our athletes Sam and
Freyja in their attempts to secure a position at the London Olympics. It was a nail biting competition and was always going to be tough when the Olympic standard is so high (they had to obtain a podium position!).
Tagged with: Freyja Prentice, Modern Pentathlon, Sam Weale
OLYMPIC PROGRESS UPDATE
Posted in:
Other Related News, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
The last 2 weeks have been busy for the Wells Sports Foundation team, involving a mixture of activities and excitement.
Tagged with:
STEPH TWELL POSTS OLYMPIC TIME
Posted in:
Other Related News, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Our athlete,
Steph Twell, looks to have left her injury troubles behind her this weekend when she reached the Olympic ‘A' standard for the 5000m.
After preparing for the season with a period of altitude training in Kenya in January, she clocked 15 minutes 15.15 seconds to fifth place in the 5,000 metres at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational meeting at Stanford University in the US on Sunday.
Tagged with: 5000m, Steph Twell
100 DAYS TO GO COVERAGE
Posted in:
Barrie Wells, Other Related News, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Check out our recent coverage that went out on ITV News at Ten to mark 100 days to go until the London Olympics.
Tagged with: 100 days to go, Dai Greene, Freyja Prentice, Holly Bleasdale
GRANADA NEWS FILMS BARRIE & HOLLY
Posted in:
Athletes 4 Schools, Barrie Wells, Wells Sports Foundation
Granada recently filmed Barrie and Holly talking about the support Holly receives from Barrie and how this helps her progress towards London 2012.
Tagged with: Granada Reports, Holly Bleasdale
LIZZIE PASSES INSPIRATION ONTO GIRL GUIDES
Posted in:
Athletes 4 Schools, Wells Sports Foundation
Tagged with: Lizzie Simmonds, Quorn Rangers Girls Guides
100 Days to go, 100 signed Pictures to give away
Posted in:
Other Related News, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Today is 100 days to go until the greatest show on earth... the London Olympics.To celebrate, we are giving away 100 athlete profile pictures signed by some of our athletes, including world champion, Dai Greene, world indoor bronze medallist, Holly Bleasdale, world junior champion, Jodie Williams and European gold medallist, Lizzie Simmonds, who has recently qualified for London. These are ideal to keep as a souvenir of London 2012 or to pass on to a loved one as a gift.
To receive your very own signed profile picture of one our Olympic hopefuls, the process is simple.
Tweet @WellsSports telling us why you would like a signed photo and include #Olympicsignedphoto. As long as you have included the hashtag we will contact you for your details and your signed profile picture will be on its way to you shortly after.
Tagged with: Olympic Signed Photos
Record Month for Athletes 4 Schools
Posted in:
Athletes 4 Schools, Wells Sports Foundation
It has been a record month of school visits for the Athletes 4 Schools scheme with a whopping 17 visits taking place in the last 4 weeks. Virtually all of our athletes have been out and about in their local areas inspiring the next generation through the power of sport.
Tagged with: Athletes 4 Schools, Sporting Role Models
All Time Pentathlon 3rd Position for Katarina
Posted in:
Other Related News, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
There is no stopping our athlete Katarina Johnson Thompson who this weekend stormed into 3rd position on the all time UK list for indoor pentathlon with a superb UK U20 record of 4526pts, which was narrowly short of Karolina Kluft's indoor world junior record of 4535pts.
Tagged with: Katarina Johnson Thompson, The Belvedere Academy, UK U20 record
We Meet Jessica Ennis’s Coach
Posted in:
Other Related News, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
After coming away from the World Indoor Championships last weekend with a silver medal, our Patron, Jessica Ennis, will now be assessing what she needs to do to continue to strive towards Olympic gold in this all important countdown period to London. One person who is instrumental in Jess's success is her coach, Toni Minichiello, who has coached Jess since she was 11.
Behind every champion is a great coach so we caught up with Toni to get an insight into his world.
Tagged with: Jessica Ennis, Toni Minichiello
World Indoors Success for Holly Bleasdale
Posted in:
Other Related News, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Our athlete Holly Bleasdale achieved her first major medal at the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul this weekend, where as a whole GB won a record total of 9 medals.
Tagged with: Holly Bleasdale, Jessica Ennis, Jodie Williams, World Indoor Championships
Lizzie & Caitlin Command 2nd Olympic Selection Opportunity
Posted in:
Other Related News, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Tagged with: British Gas Swimming Championships, Caitlin McClatchey, Hannah Miley, Lizzie Simmonds
Olympic Double for Hannah Miley
Posted in:
Other Related News, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
It has been a nail biting week for our swimmers at the British Gas Swimming Championships, which has been their main opportunity to qualify for the London Olympics.
Tagged with: Anne Bochmann, British Gas Swimming Championships, Caitlin McClatchey, Hannah Miley, Lizzie Simmonds
A Modern Pentathlon Themed week of School Visits
Posted in:
Athletes 4 Schools, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Our modern pentathletes Sam Weale and Freyja Prentice were out in the Bath area again last week inspiring local schools through their experiences as world class athletes.
Tagged with: Freyja Prentice, Modern Pentathlon, Priestly Primary School, Ralph Alllen School, Sam Weale
Katarina Paves Way in aim for Olympic Standard
Posted in:
Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Our athlete, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, has had an impressive weekend at the Aviva England Age Group Indoor Championships, collecting a trio of medals and records in various individual events.
Tagged with: England Age Group Indoor Championships, Katarina Johnson-Thompson , World Junior Championships
2012 is Looking Bright for Mark Buckingham
Posted in:
Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Our triathletes Mark Buckingham and Matt Gunby have made a strong start to the 2012 season at the Mundialto Fast Triathlon in Buzios, Rio de Janeiro with Mark taking 2nd place in the individual race and both Mark and Matt contributing to team success.
Tagged with: Mark Buckingham, Matt Gunby, Mundialto Fast Triathlon
Meet the Man Behind Wells Sports Foundation
Posted in:
Barrie Wells, Box 4 Kids, Other Related News, Wells Sports Foundation
Meet our Chairman, Barrie Wells, whose entrepreneurial spirit combined with his huge passion for sport has led him into a philanthropic adventure which aims to contribute to London 2012’s legacy for sport.
Tagged with: Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool Football Club
The Man Funding Britain’s Brightest Hopes
Posted in:
Barrie Wells, Wells Sports Foundation
Recent story by The Guardian covering Barrie's unique funding of London Olympic hopefuls.
Tagged with:
Raising Awareness: The Importance of Sporting Role Models
Posted in:
Athletes 4 Schools, Other Related News, Wells Sports Foundation
The Annual
Youth Sport Trust Conference brings together the most exciting and innovative work in PE, school sport, whole school achievement and showcases the best global practice. The conference includes; world class keynote speakers, national policy updates and the profession's leading practitioners.
Tagged with: Amy Miveld, Key Themes, Sporting Role Models, Youth Sport Trust Conference
Holly gives Local School a Taste of World Class
Posted in:
Athletes 4 Schools, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Last week, Holly Bleasdale visited Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School in Wigan through her role for our Athletes 4 Schools scheme. She received a very warm welcome on entering the school assembly to the whole school chanting her name and begun by telling her story and talking about her experiences, bringing through lots of positive messages. Holly also ran 2 activity workshops which were based on pole vaulting techniques and many of them showed interest in getting involved in pole vaulting sessions outside of school. This was all captured by BBC Northwest News who came along to film the visit.
Tagged with: Holly Bleasdale, Pole Vault, Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School
Michael Rimmer Bounces Back
Posted in:
Other Related News, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
After the best year of his career in 2010 and the fastest start to a season ever at the beginning of 2011, Michael Rimmer looked to be showing immense form with just over a year to go to 2012. But a mystery groin injury produced an ongoing turbulent year which saw his World Championship hopes fall to pieces.
With the new year upon us, Michael finally looks set to be leaving all this behind him and we catch up with him in the beautiful surroundings of Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre to find out more...
Tagged with: Bisham Abbey, Michael Rimmer
Holly Bleasddale Raises The Bar For Olympic Glory
Posted in:
Barrie Wells, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Our athlete, Holly Bleasdale, is continuing to show her rising potential by breaking her own British record for the 5th time, sailing over a height of 4.87m. This has catapulted her to second place in the all time world indoor rankings and she did it from an impressive 16 stride run up, as opposed to a usual 18 strides.
Tagged with: British Record, Holly Bleasdale, Julien Rafallii
10,000 Miles, 15 Countries, 6 Months, 2 Wheels, 1 Nutter
Posted in:
Other Related News, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Our athlete, Charlotte Roach, this weekend completes her inspirational journey cycling from Beijing, back to the UK through 15 countries. This trip was to raise funds for the
Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA) that saved her life when she suffered an accident on her bike during triathlon training back in 2009.
Tagged with: 10,000 miles, Charlotte Roach, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance, DLRAA, trigold
Sam Weale brings Pentathlon to 2 Local Schools
Posted in:
Athletes 4 Schools, Wells Sports Foundation
Our athlete, Sam Weale, visited John Cabot Academy and Warmley Park School in Bristol on Monday and Tuesday of this week, to spend time with and inspire both schools' students.
Tagged with: John Cabot Academy, Sam Weale, Warmley Park School
Beth Tweddle visits Barrie’s old School
Posted in:
Barrie Wells, Other Related News, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Despite Beth not officially being a part of the Wells Sports Foundation team, she supports our activities and, as a one off special occasion, Barrie arranged for Beth to make a special appearance at his old school, Merchant Taylors' Schools in Crosby, Merseyside, to deliver a gymnastics master class to its students.
Tagged with: Beth Tweddle, Merchant Taylors'
Jenny Blogs about her training in Font Romeu
Posted in:
Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Jenny Meadows has recently been to Font Romeu to begin her tough period of winter training.
Tagged with: Font Romeu , Jenny Meadows
Barrie heads to South Africa to check out Warm Weather Camp
Posted in:
Barrie Wells, Other Related News, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Our Chairman,
Barrie Wells, has just set off to South Africa to meet up with our athletes,
Dai Greene and
Jenny Meadows, who are currently training out there at the UK Athletics Warm Weather Camp in Stellenbosch.
Tagged with: Dai Greene, Jenny Meadows, Stellenbosch
Simple Health Tips from our Athletes
Posted in:
Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
Broken your New Year’s resolutions/ detox plans yet? Here are some very simple insights from
our team of Olympic athletes to help kick start a healthier outlook for 2012.
Tagged with:
The Launch of our New Website
Posted in:
Wells Sports Foundation
We are excited to reveal our brand new website which has been developed to promote and celebrate all our projects and activities.
Tagged with: Fat Media, New Website
Wells Sports Foundation Celebration
Posted in:
Athletes 4 Schools, Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
We recently celebrated 2 years in operation and marked the occasion by inviting our team of athletes to enjoy an intimate dinner to look back on the last 2 years of success and to toast the countdown to London 2012.
Tagged with: Celebration Dinner
Our New Recruit, Record Breaking Holly Bleasdale
Posted in:
Our Athletes , Wells Sports Foundation
We are delighted to announce that, Northwest pole vaulter, Holly Bleasdale, has joined the Wells Sports Foundation’s team of athletes.
Barrie will personally fund Holly to make a difference to her 2012 chances which involves enabling her coach, Julien Raffalli-Ebezant, to quit his day job and train with Holly full time.
Tagged with: British Record, Holly Bleasdale, Jenny Meadows, Latimer Stones, Olympic & Paralympic Values, Pole Vault