Sporting greats appointed School Sport Ambassadors

FIVE of Great Britain’s most successful Olympic and Paralympic athletes have today (Tuesday 11 May) been named as School Sport Ambassadors to help inspire more children to take part in PE and school sport.

The Youth Sport Trust (www.youthsporttrust.org) has announced it will work with Denise Lewis, Jason Gardener, Gail Emms, Sascha Kindred and Joe Glanfield to promote the benefits of sport and a healthy lifestyle to young people.
 
The quintet will visit schools and sporting events across the country to support the Youth Sport Trust’s initiatives and help increase young people’s enjoyment of sport as participants, competitors, coaches, leaders, volunteers and young officials.

Steve Grainger, chief executive of the Youth Sport Trust, said: “We are delighted that Denise, Jason, Gail, Sascha and Joe have agreed to become School Sport Ambassadors. They all share our belief that sport has the power to change lives and their incredible sporting achievements will help us inspire more children to take part in and enjoy sport as we work towards 2012 and beyond.”

The Youth Sport Trust’s work impacts on millions of five to 16-year-olds across the country through its support and development of 480 sports colleges and 450 school sport partnerships.

The Youth Sport Trust also works with both the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Children, Schools and Families to help deliver the Government’s PE and Sport Strategy for Young People. The strategy aims to offer all young people access to five hours of sport a week by 2012, consisting of 2 hours within the curriculum and the remainder outside the school day.

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For more information

Please contact the Youth Sport Trust Press Office on 0207 874 7674. Interview opportunities are available with the five School Sport Ambassadors on request. Please contact the above number.

School Sport Ambassador biographies

Denise Lewis - Denise’s greatest triumph came when she won a gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Denise’s career medal haul also includes a bronze medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, two gold medals in the Commonwealth Games (1998, 1994), two World Championship silver medals (1999, 1997) and gold in the European Championships (1998). Denise was made an OBE in 2000.

Jason Gardener - Jason enjoyed a glittering athletics career, the highlight being when he won Olympic gold as part of the British 4x100m relay quartet at the Athens Games in 2004. Other achievements include a gold medal over 60m at the 2004 World Indoor Championships and a hat-trick of 60m European Indoors Championships title, as well as being made an MBE in 2005.

Gail Emms - The pairing of Gail and Nathan Robertson is the most successful Great Britain badminton partnership ever. In 2004 they reached the final of the Olympic Games in Athens, narrowly missing out on the gold medal to claim silver. Gail then went on to win gold with Nathan in the World Championships in 2006, gold in the Commonwealth Games in 2006 and European titles both in the mixed and ladies doubles.

Sascha Kindred - Since 1993, Sascha has been one of Great Britain's most successful Paralympic athletes, dominating in Breaststroke and Individual Medley (IM) events within his classification at major championships all over the world. Overall, Sascha has won a total of six Paralympic, five World and eight European Championship gold medals. In addition, he currently holds a number of British, European, Paralympic and World records. Sascha was made an OBE in 2009.

Joe Glanfield - Joe and team mate Nick Rogers returned from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games with a superb silver in the 470 sailing class, which added to their silver at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. Joe and Nick enjoyed a reputation as one of the sailing world’s strongest pairings and also achieved medals at World and European level.

Notes to Editors

The Youth Sport Trust is a registered charity with a simple mission: To build a brighter future for all young people through physical education (PE) and school sport.  Its main objective is to increase young people’s participation and enjoyment of PE and school sport and, through this, improve their life chances. For more information visit www.youthsporttrust.org

The PE and Sport Strategy for Young People (PESSYP), jointly delivered through the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport aims to increase the numbers of young people taking part in high quality PE and school sport. The Government’s long-term ambition is to offer all young people the opportunity to participate in five hours of sport per week, both within the curriculum and outside the school day, by 2012.