taking part in a sports day like no other
National #FitnessDay is a UK-wide campaign highlighting the importance of physical activity and an active lifestyle – a sentiment we couldn’t agree more with at Dame Kelly Holmes Trust.
Our transformational programmes are designed to highlight the intrinsic link between physical and mental wellbeing. Athlete mentors encourage the young people we support to try out new sports and activity, and to incorporate them in to their every day, promoting long term healthy behaviours. The message is no different when we’re working with our partners, particularly on our Sports Day Like No Other.
Experiencing the world of sport with our elite athlete team, colleagues from silver partner Brooks Macdonald, and supporter Janus Henderson walked in the footsteps of champions at the Olympic Park in London. This year’s #FitnessDay focus is Fitness Unites Us and gives us a great opportunity to talk about the huge positive benefits for everyone who took part. Our inclusive activities encourage staff performance, focus on group dynamics, teamwork, confidence and health and wellbeing. Tailored specifically to meet our partners’ objectives, the sessions brought a sense of unity across both teams. By coming together as a team in a semi competitive environment they understand more about what makes their teammates tick, driving a deeper sense of employee engagement. For some people this might be the first time they’ve engaged in physical activity in a while, so we keep the activities simple, engaging and most importantly, fun!
“We had a fantastic sports day with the athletes from Dame Kelly Holmes Trust. It brought together colleagues from across the Group, building connections, creating memories and generating a lot of laughs! These connections and memories will contribute to our culture going forward, and it was great to be able to fundraise for such a fantastic cause as one big team.”
Tom Emery, Chief People Officer from Brooks Macdonald
The athlete mentor team from Dame Kelly Holmes Trust at the Olympic Park.
Trust athlete mentors are Olympic, Commonwealth, World, European or National champions and represent a wide range of sports. By working alongside them at a sports day, teams begin to understand the powerful impact that the positivity of athlete’s can-do, never give up mindset can have, as well as seeing first-hand the benefits their fundraising activity can have. The team at Brooks Macdonald raised over £7,500 for the Trust, a truly life changing amount allowing us to deliver transformational programmes to the young people who need it most.
“Sports Days are a brilliant way of getting people physically active and working together in a team in a fun, friendly environment, but with a bit of competitiveness involved as well! Working with the staff from Brooks Macdonald and Janus Henderson has been great - it’s taken them away from their desks and given them the chance to spend time with colleagues in a completely different environment. Sports Days really promote team building and also gives the teams a chance to work with elite level athletes and start to understand some of the principles of working within a High Performing Team”
Adam Whitehead, Commonwealth swimming gold medallist and athlete mentor
If you are looking to improve the teamwork, confidence and health and wellbeing of your team at the same time as increasing your employee engagement, contact Pippa on fundraising@damekellyholmestrust.org to find out more about running your own sports day with our team of elite athletes.