http://www.fatmedia.co.ukRSS Feed of all the Blog PostsRSSviaXmlTextWriter v1.0en-gbhttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/04/2013/BOX-4-KIDS-AT-WIGAN-WARRIORS 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!   Wigan Warrior's main sponsor, Applicado-FS, kindly donated their corporate box for the use of Box 4 Kids and three seriously ill and disabled children, nominated by the staff from the Rainbow Ward at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, were able to attend.   All oTue, 23 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/04/2013/BOX-4-KIDS-AT-WARRINGTON-WOLVES- 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.   The children arrived at the match with their chosen guest and were greeted on arrival by their Box 4 Kids hosts for the day Fiona and Dan. When they walked in to the box their faces just lit up with joy - what an amazing view of the game they were going to have. You coulMon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/04/2013/BUCKO-MAKES-IT-A-HAT-TRICK- On 7th April 2013, Wells Sports Foundation Ambassador Mark Buckingham won his third successive British Elite Duathlon title at Prestwold Airfield.   Mark faced tough competition from fellow Wells Sports Foundation Ambassador, Adam Bowden but managed to take control at the front of the field, establishing a lead that no one could contend with. Mark finished the race in a fantastic time of 54.05 with Adam finishing in a close second with a time of 54.18.   Mark Tue, 09 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/03/2013/BETH-CROWNED-ICE-QUEEN 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.   Beth and her partner Dan Winston scored a brilliant 36.5 out of 40 for their first showcase routine of the night which they performed to 'Car Wash' by Rose Royce. They then went on to perform their favourite (and our favourite!) routine of the series to 'Clown' by Emile Sande.   Mon, 11 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/03/2013/EUROPEAN-GOLD-FOR-HOLLY The Wells Sports Foundation's Ambassador, Holly Bleasdale beats defending champion Anna Rogowska to take the European pole vault gold! Competing against the defending European Champion wasn't going to be the easiest of tasks for 21 year old Lancastrian Holly, although with much courage and determination she rose to the challenge.   Both Holly and Anna failed to clear a height of 4.72m and were offered the choice between a share of the European indoor pole vault golMon, 04 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/08/2012/BARRIE-REFLECTS-ON-LONDON-2012 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!   The last 4 years have been incredible. Just after the Beijing Olympics, when I made the decision to contribute to the legacy of London, I don't think I could have predicted how much my Foundation would impact on so many levels. Amongst the 21 athletes I Thu, 30 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/08/2012/OUR-WAY-FORWARD 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.   Up until now our Athletes 4 Schools scheme has involved 200 schools and reached over 30,000 young people. This unique project has been operating since 2009 and has involved some of Britain’s biggest stars of the Olympics inspiring the next generation through sport. We have experienced huge success through this scheme and have seen maFri, 17 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/08/2012/OUR-ATHLETES-SUCCESS-IN-LONDON 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.   Our Box 4 Kids Ambassador, Beth Tweddle, also claimed a very emotional bronze medal in the uneven bars, for which she publicallyWed, 15 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/08/2012/BETH-TWEDDLE-THANK-YOU-ALL There has been some really positive coverage on Barrie’s support of our athletes over the Olympic period.   Beth Tweddle spoke to The Metro about her Olympic bronze medal in the uneven bars, including the support she has found to be invaluable. She personally thanked Barrie for buying her an ice machine, which she used to aid her recovery from keyhole surgery on her knee. Read full story here.Wed, 15 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/07/2012/LET-THE-GAMES-BEGIN By Barrie Wells, Chairman 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 thFri, 27 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/07/2012/KAT-JUMPS-OUT-OF-THE-PIT-AT-WORLD-JNR-CHAMPIONSHIPS 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.   An illegal wind speed of 2.5m per second mean Katarina's personal best was not recorded, however had it bMon, 16 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/07/2012/SUCCESS-FOR-FREYJA-AS-PART-OF-EUROPEAN-TEAM 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.   The trio went into the fencing event in fifth place but managed to pull a medal baTue, 10 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/07/2012/DAI-GREENE-MADE-TEAM-GB-CAPTAIN-FOR-LONDON 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.   Described by Head Coach, Charles van Commenee as a "standout candidate”, Dai is without doubt an individual who can motivate the team, as well as remain focused on the end pTue, 10 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/07/2012/FINAL-WELLS-SPORTS-FOUNDATION-OLYMPIC-LINE-UP 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. The 11 athletes are Jessica EnThu, 05 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/07/2012/ATHLETICS-SQUAD-ANNOUNCED-FOR-LONDON After an intense week following a nail biting British Trials, athletes today found out their fate for the London Olympics.   For those athletes who ticked all the boxes in terms of having an A standard and a top 2 position at the Trials, they have been able to rest easy knowing their seat to the Games had been booked.   But the remaining individuals were told that the European Championships in Helsinki was the last chance to prove their form to be wTue, 03 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/06/2012/CANARY-WHARF-TRIUMPH-FOR-KATIE-HEWISON 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. Katie said: "I am in shock. For me it was all about having the hardest swim that I could and if I am in the pack, I am a happy girl because I am a strong runner, that's my strength. I focused on running as hard as I could and when I got near I couldn't belFri, 29 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/06/2012/BEAU-SMITH-S-TORCH-INSPIRED-VISIT- 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.   Following the success of the Torch Relay coming though Lancaster last Friday, Beau continued the inspiration by talking to the pupils about his life as a triathlete and how the London Olympics inspires him towards his hopes of competing in Rio in 4 years time. He went onto deliver a triathlon themed activFri, 29 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/06/2012/JENNY-MEADOWS-OLYMPIC-HOPES-CONTINUE 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 extFri, 29 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/06/2012/DAI-GREENE-HOLLY-BLEASDALE-QUALIFY-FOR-LONDON 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.   Dai Greene was elated to confirm a number one spot in the 400m hurdles, with training partner Jack Green joining him after finishing in second place. Afterwards he admitted that the hard work starts now but feels confident that he will be in great shape in time for the Olympics. ThMon, 25 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/06/2012/KATARINA-S-LIFE-THROUGH-A-LENS 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. An athlete's breakfast...   &nbThu, 14 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/06/2012/THUNDER-KAT-COMMANDS-PLACE-IN-LONDON 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.   This means that 19 year old Katarina will go onto join our Patron, Jessica Ennis, and Commonwealth champion Louise Hazel to represent Great Britain in the heptathlon this summer. Jess was in action herself on Sunday, producing Mon, 11 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/06/2012/OLYMPIC-QUALIFICATION-FOR-SAM-WEALE 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.   Sam made a successful final attempt to reach the A standard at the World Cup final in Chengdu, China last month with a 7th place finish. In 2010, Sam become the firFri, 08 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/05/2012/SAM-WEALE-ACHIEVES-QUALIFYING-STANDARD-FOR-LONDON- 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.   Jamie Cooke, the front runner for Olympic selection, was back in a disappointing 19th place but Cooke achieved the Olympic selection standard with his Wed, 30 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/05/2012/WE-REACH-50-VISITS-IN-LEICESTERSHIRE 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.   The 50th visit took place at Mellor Primary School in Leicester yesterday involving swimming champions Lizzie Simmonds and Caitlin McClatchey. Barrie was also there to say a few words and thanked the Foundation team, the athletes and Inspire LeicesterShire for their combined hard work in makiThu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/05/2012/MODERN-PENTATHLON-A-BRILLIANT-SPECTATOR-SPORT By Matthew Wells, Trustee of 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!).   Over the last few weeks I have been on the edge of my seat awaiting their fate in a Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/05/2012/OLYMPIC-PROGRESS-UPDATE The last 2 weeks have been busy for the Wells Sports Foundation team, involving a mixture of activities and excitement.   Two weekends ago, heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson proved how much she wants to compete in London by smashing the heptathlon national junior record at a competition in Italy, achieving the B standard. However, despite her efforts she will still need to reach the A standard to secure a place in the team alongside Jessica and Louise Hazel. BarMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/05/2012/STEPH-TWELL-POSTS-OLYMPIC-TIME 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.   It was comfortably inside the Olympic 'A 'standard of 15mins 20seTue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/04/2012/100-DAYS-TO-GO-COVERAGE Check out our recent coverage that went out on ITV News at Ten to mark 100 days to go until the London Olympics.   Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/04/2012/GRANADA-NEWS-FILMS-BARRIE-HOLLY   Granada recently filmed Barrie and Holly talking about the support Holly receives from Barrie and how this helps her progress towards London 2012.    Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/04/2012/LIZZIE-PASSES-INSPIRATION-ONTO-GIRL-GUIDES     Our swimmer, Lizzie Simmonds, met the Quorn Rangers Girls Guides this week for a very special Athletes 4 Schools visit.   It was a little different to our normal set up in schools, the Guides had done so much preparation and research that the night spiralled into an intimate discussion lasting nearly 3 hours, where Lizzie told lots of funny stories but also put across important themes including building self esteem and working hard to fulfil Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/04/2012/Weale-Continues-Olympic-Campaign-at-Rostov-World-Cup Our athlete, Sam Weale, secured back-to-back Modern Pentathlon World Cup top-20 finishes with 17th place in Russia yesterday. The Beijing 2008 Olympian, ranked 22nd in the world, followed up his 19th place in Hungary a week ago with 17th in Rostov.   Team-mate Jamie Cooke, Britain's reigning world junior champion, ended the day 21st. Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB Performance Director of the GB programme said: "It was a tough competition for everyone today, with a strMon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/04/2012/100-Days-to-go-100-signed-Pictures-to-give-away 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 yThu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/03/2012/Record-Month-for-Athletes-4-Schools 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.           The visits have focused on a range of themes including the benefits of sport, striving for excellence, the importance of diet, encouraging exam preparation... allFri, 30 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/03/2012/All-Time-Pentathlon-3rd-Position-for-Katarina- 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.   We are so proud to see Katarina continue to progress into a genuine contender for a place on the Olympic team. Her 1.88m in the high jump was the highlight amongst an all round top effort containing 4 Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/03/2012/We-Meet-Jessica-Ennis-s-Coach 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.   Mon, 19 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/03/2012/Lizzie-Caitlin-Command-2nd-Olympic-Selection-Opportunity- We are delighted that our swimmers Lizzie Simmonds and Caitlin McClatchey have confirmed their Olympic spots at the British Gas Swimming Championships last week.   Lizzie put the disappointment of missing the top two places in the 100m Backstroke behind her to swim under the Olympic qualification standard in the 200m Backstroke. The European Champion commanded the start of the race to take the lead before the first turn. Simmonds fought off the challenge of defMon, 12 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/03/2012/World-Indoors-Success-for-Holly-Bleasdale- 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.   Holly was ecstatic with the 3rd place medal but admitted that this is what put her off her last attempt to get further in the competition, having seen it come up on the screen that she had claimed bronze. "I'm really, really happy with my first major medal. I'm so excited,” she said. "But being so Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/03/2012/Olympic-Double-for-Hannah-Miley 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.   To qualify, swimmers have to reach a 1st or 2nd place with the required qualifying time for their events. There have been a mixture of results with Hannah Miley coming out on top. Hannah breezed through her main events, the 400m and 200m individual medley. It is in the 400m, in which she was a silver meThu, 08 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/02/2012/A-Modern-Pentathlon-Themed-week-of-School-Visits- 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.   Last Tuesday, Sam visited Priestly Primary in the afternoon after the school had already had a jam packed morning full of fun and exciting modern pentathlon related activities to get the children excited for their visit from the European Silver medallist. Sam was welcomed intoTue, 28 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/02/2012/Katarina-Paves-Way-in-aim-for-Olympic-Standard 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.   Katarina, who is significantly better points wise than Jessica Ennis was at the same age, sailed to a new Championship best of 6.30m in the junior women’s long jump and progressed onto clearing 1.85m in the high jump, which is the qualifying standard for the World JMon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/02/2012/2012-is-Looking-Bright-for-Mark-Buckingham- 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.   The Fast Triathlon was a super-sprint event consisting of a 250m swim, followed by 4km bike ride and finally 1.2km run, which was repeated three times making the event a very explosive race, completing the course in less tWed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/02/2012/The-Man-Funding-Britain-s-Brightest-Hopes Recent story by The Guardian covering Barrie's unique funding of London Olympic hopefuls. The article explains how Barrie's support of the likes of Holly Bleasdale, Dai Greene and Lizzie Simmonds contributes to their podium potential for London and how the whole concept of his funding and the Wells Sports Foundation came about. It includes examples of his support such as paying for Jenny Meadows to go to separate warm weather camps with her coach and personal physio. In the aMon, 20 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/02/2012/Meet-the-Man-Behind-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.            We step into the life of Barrie to find out more...   Tell us about your Grandfather, Ernest Latimer Stones.   My Grandfather, Ernest Latimer Stones, was born in 1865 and was one of the pioMon, 20 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/02/2012/Raising-Awareness-The-Importance-of-Sporting-Role-Models 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.   So when Barrie and I were invited to be involved in this year's conference, we both felt that this was a great opportunity to meet likeminded people who may not have heard ofMon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/02/2012/Holly-gives-Local-School-a-Taste-of-World-Class 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 vaulThu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/01/2012/Michael-Rimmer-Bounces-Back 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 toTue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/01/2012/Beth-Tweddle-visits-Barrie-s-old-School- 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. The occasion marked the opening of the school's new sports facilities, the Ian Robinson Sports Centre. This new set up would feed into the Governments strategy tThu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/01/2012/Sam-Weale-brings-Pentathlon-to-2-Local-Schools- 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. Sam talked about his many experiences as a pentathlete and his short term and long term goals, his ultimate being the build up to London, as well as running some pentathlon specific activities. To participate in the pentathlon athletes must compete in five different sports, fencing, swimming, riding and a combThu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/01/2012/10-000-Miles-15-Countries-6-Months-2-Wheels-1-Nutter 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.   The air ambulance lifted Charlotte from the accident within minutes of losing her life and, unlike other services, carries a doctor onboThu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/01/2012/Holly-Bleasddale-Raises-The-Bar-For-Olympic-Glory- 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. Having been in the sport for only 4 years and at elite level for only 1 year, realistically Holly should be looking to peak at the 2016 Olympics and 2017 World ChampiThu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/01/2012/Barrie-heads-to-South-Africa-to-check-out-Warm-Weather-Camp   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.   He is in the lucky position to be able to hop on a plane to support the athletes and is hoping to get further insight and understanding of both their training and preparations looking ahead to London. Barrie comments: "Dai and Jenny are two of TeMon, 16 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/01/2012/Jenny-Blogs-about-her-training-in-Font-Romeu- Jenny Meadows has recently been to Font Romeu to begin her tough period of winter training.   Check out Jenny's personal blog on her time in Font Romeu which will give you an insight into her training at altitude and watch her take on some very mean looking weights sessions! This trip was funded by Barrie in order to support Jenny's ongoing plans for success in London. Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/01/2012/Simple-Health-Tips-from-our-Athletes 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.                 Michael Rimmer In your lifetime you have to eat an awful lot of meals so why not give it a bit more thought. You wouldn’t put Diesel in a Jaguar car so think a bit more about what you are putting in your body and take a bit Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/12/2011/The-Launch-of-our-New-Website- We are excited to reveal our brand new website which has been developed to promote and celebrate all our projects and activities. There will be lots more insight into our schemes, Athletes 4 Schools and Box 4 Kids, plus get to know our athletes in their lovely fresh profiles which have more information and photos. You will be sampling much more from us in terms of news, blogs and activities in the countdown to London 2012 and, our Chairman, Barrie Wells’ page will demonstrate all the Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/12/2011/Wells-Sports-Foundation-Celebration 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. Unfortunately, the only individuals who were unable to attend were Hannah Miley who was away on a training camp and our Patron, Jess Ennis, who had a prior engagement. Rumour had it that she was busy making her 7 tier wedding cake to reflect the 7 events of a heptathlon!Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/12/2011/Our-New-Recruit-Record-Breaking-Holly-Bleasdale 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.  Amazingly, Holly has only been doing pole vault for 3 years but, despite being a relative rookie, in the past year has become the UK’s number 1 and has brokeThu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.fatmedia.co.uk/blog/post/11/2011/London-2012-reveals-North-West-communities-on-Olympic-Torch-Relay-route 90 communities in the North West announced on the Olympic Torch Relay route The Olympic Flame will be in the North West from 29 May - 2 June and 20 - 24 June 2012 and will visit every county People in the North West are invited to start planning their welcome Over 95% of the UK population will be within 10 miles of the Olympic Flame The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) today confirmed all the communities in the Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT