Olympic and Commonwealth Games swimmer offers advice to local young people

Two projects in Ceredigion have been successful in getting support from a former Olympic and Commonwealth Games swimmer as part of the Sky Sports: Living for Sport’ initiative.

Tom Haffield was a professional swimmer and competed at the Beijing Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and Glasgow, he is now an Ambassador alongside 100 world-class Athletes from a range of sports delivering free visits to schools to share their inspiring stories of success and support teachers to deliver their projects.

The ‘Sky Sports: Living for Sport’ initiative is a free initiative open to UK and Ireland secondary schools that uses sports stars and skills learnt through sport to build confidence and develop life skills. As an Ambassador Tom visited two projects in Ceredigion in March; Canolfan Bro Steffan Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) in Cribyn and Canolfan Aeron PRU in Aberaeron.

Tom visited Canolfan Bro Steffan to work with groups of pupils aged between 13 and 15 to develop their health and well-being awareness, Tom shared his story about how he competed in the Olympic and Commonwealth Games, and discussed how the pupils could improve their own health and wellbeing.

Councillor Hag Harris, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Learning Services, Children and Young People’s Partnership said: “This was a great opportunity for the young people to see what exactly it takes to be a professional sports player and see the dedication and ambition to perform at that level.”

He adds: “They also had the opportunity to enjoy a session on team work and communication skills by swimming with Tom, we hope this will inspire the pupils and give them some confidence to achieve whatever they put their mind to.”

Tom also visited pupils aged between 15-16 at Canolfan Aeron PRU in Aberaeron to develop their literacy skills. As part of this project he accompanied the pupils on a visit Radio Ceredigion in Narberth, where the pupils were given the chance to interview him.

Hag Harris said: “Liam, David and Daniel prepared excellent questions and demonstrated fabulous potential as future interviewers, the day really helped with their literacy skills and gave them a taste of what it’s like to be a radio presenter.”

The interview went live on Radio Ceredigion and can still be listened to as a podcast via the website www.radioceredigion.wales

Ceredigion PRU offers a bespoke and engaging curriculum that meets the needs of the most vulnerable pupils within the Authority and is a highly valued service within education. These pupils have Social, Emotional and Behavioural difficulties, Medical Conditions, Learning Disabilities and Mental Health problems and are provided with personalized packages of support to overcome their barriers to learning. The PRU mission statement is “Every Child Matters” and its aim is to ensure that each child and young person has the best possible chance to achieve Educational and Social success.

To find out more please visit https://www.ceredigion.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=16019
Photo L-R Liam Jones, David Beck and Tom Haffield, front Daniel Platek at Radio Ceredigion