TriTrust New years newsletter

NEWSLETTER
Accenture supports Triathlon
Trust through winter months
The Triathlon Trust is proud to be supported
by Accenture, who are funding a series of kids’
duathlon events at schools across the UK this
winter. The indoor events are giving schoolchildren
the opportunity to take part in a fun and engaging
run-bike-run distance challenge, set to high
energy music, using bikes set up on turbo trainers.
Accenture employees are fundraising in their
regional teams and have nominated local schools
to benefit from the project. The employees also
volunteer at the event, helping to deliver a fun-filled
day and inspiring children to get more active!
Pupils at Orchard Lea Primary School
enjoying their run-bike-run challenge.
Accenture employees volunteering with
Trust ambassador Lauren Steadman.
Triathlon Trust ambassador Lauren Steadman meets Tim Peake
Paralympic silver medallist and Triathlon Trust ambassador Lauren Steadman met British astronaut Tim Peake last November when the Trust attended
the Principia Mission Schools Conference. We attended the conference to showcase our work, where we brought the Space to Earth Challenge to
schools across the UK, challenging schoolchildren to swim, bike and run the 400km distance from Earth to the International Space Station. You can
watch our Space to Earth Challenge video HERE.
Trust delivers 30,000 Active Days in 2016!
The Trust has travelled the length and breadth of Britain this year, delivering multi-sport activities for children,
from mini-tris and dry-tris to duathlons and distance challenges, all with the aim of giving children a positive,
fun experience of sport in order to inspire them to get more active.
We have delivered a total of 30,000 Active Days which has been no mean feat, and we simply couldn’t achieve
this alone, so a big thank you goes to all our volunteers, supporters and corporate partners who have helped to
make this possible. Together we really are ‘Changing Lives through Triathlon’!
We asked children to describe completing their first triathlon with us in three words - here’s what they said!
What can you do to help?
We need people who can support our work of inspiring children to get more active using
the fantastic sport of triathlon. All of the funds we raise help us to deliver fun, free and
inclusive activities and events for children aged 7-13 years old.
Monthly donations make such a difference because having a steady and reliable income
helps us to plan for the future and reduce our costs. This means we can reach thousands
of children every year and make a positive impact on their lives by bringing them a fun,
enjoyable experience of sport.
Set up a monthly donation of £10, or more, and receive either our set of cufflinks or a pin
badge as a token of our thanks, and to show your support for the Triathlon Trust.
For more information and to set up your monthly donation, quickly and securely, and to
receive your free gift, please click HERE.
The Triathlon Trust would like to thank the following
companies for their generous support.

NEW YEAR 2017
Volunteer profile – Meet Mike Leatherbarrow
Mike Leatherbarrow is one of Triathlon Trust’s amazing volunteers. He is a keen runner, has helped to deliver triathlon events to
thousands of children and has met some of sport’s amazing superstars along the way. His goal this year is to complete a triathlon.
Tell us a bit about yourself, Mike!
My day job is a Network Manager at a secondary school based in Formby, near Liverpool, and for the past few years I have
volunteered at many sport-related events. I also love running, which I admit I am seriously addicted to! (Ed - and he’s quite good
at!) I also like motorbikes, astronomy and mountain walking.
When did you start volunteering with the Triathlon Trust?
Three years ago, I was invited to volunteer at a Triathlon Trust event in Liverpool by a colleague who I’d volunteered with on the
Duke of Edinburgh Award, and who knew about the Triathlon Trust’s work.
What’s the best thing about volunteering with the Triathlon Trust?
It starts from the moment I receive the phone call asking if I am available to help to deliver an event! What the Triathlon Trust can achieve with a small core
team and a couple of vans loaded with bikes, cones, banners and medals, is truly amazing. You only have to see the genuine joy and excitement in every
child that participates, regardless of ability, to know how truly wonderful it is to be part of that.
For me, being part of the Triathlon Trust team helping to make these events happen for tens of thousands of children every year is what I love best and I see
the team as my second family… in fact at times during the year I spend more time with them than my actual family!
What has been your highlight of volunteering?
There have been so many highlights over the years, including helping deliver an event for over 1,300 children in one day, to supporting a teenager who had
never even ridden a bicycle before to complete their first ever triathlon, to working alongside the Brownlee brothers at their Brownlee Foundation and
Brownlee Triathlon events. As spectacular as those events are, the team still have the same level of enthusiasm for every event, no matter the size or venue.
A personal highlight was helping deliver a mini-triathlon for local schools at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, as it took me back to where I first began
volunteering in Sport as a London 2012 Games Maker.
What have been the benefits of volunteering with the Trust?
I have gained the confidence to work with, and talk in front of, big groups of people, to work independently as well as with a team and to be responsible for
overseeing other volunteers. I have also learnt how to run specific areas of an event, to ensure it happens smoothly, whilst under pressure.
Volunteering has also allowed me to visit many parts of the country, and communities, that I have never visited before, and I have volunteered with people
from all walks of life. I have also been very privileged to have met, and worked with, many inspirational elite triathletes and paratriathletes., including Lauren
Steadman who is an Ambassador for the Triathlon Trust.
What other volunteering do you do?
I volunteered as an assessor for the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme for over 10 years, and was a Games Maker at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics
Games. Since then, I have volunteered at European Athletics, Tour de Yorkshire and many British Triathlon events. I am part of the core team of our
recently set up local parkrun event, and I have also been a Visually Impaired Guide Runner for nearly three years, covering distances from 5km to
marathons, both in the UK and America.
One of my goals is to complete a triathlon (the team will tell you that I say this every year!) but my swimming is, well... non-existent. This led to a hysterical
situation when I recently accompanied my blind friend to a paratriathlon disability day as her guide – except she ended up helping me through the swim! I
did manage to try out my new wetsuit at the Liverpool Triathlon where I volunteered as a paratriathlon swim exit handler. It was an amazing event and I felt
privileged to play a part.
“Mike is one of the friendliest, most-dedicated people I’ve ever met”, says the Trust’s CEO, Mike Jubb, “His commitment to wanting to help others really
is second to none. Without supporters like Mike, we wouldn’t be able to make such a significant impact and I’m honoured that he’s chosen to help the Trust
to change children’s lives through triathlon”.
Feeling inspired to join us at an event in 2017?
Join us as an Event Volunteer and you’ll help to deliver a fun-filled day that will give children the chance to give triathlon a ‘tri’ and inspire them to get more
active. A variety of roles are available and no experience is necessary - just energy, enthusiasm and a smile!
We run events across the UK so you can join as a one-off volunteer at an event local to you, or you can choose to volunteer with us more regularly. To find
out more, visit our website HERE or contact us at volunteer@triathlontrust.org. We also post our upcoming opportunities on Twitter @TriTrust.
2017 Events
We are currently filling our 2017 calendar with lots of exciting events!
You can search our online Events Calendar HERE and follow us on Twitter @TriTrust for updates.