Team Mintridge had a wonderful day at Ingham Primary School alongside Danielle Brown MBE and Khadijah Safari as part of our wonderful Silver Archery and Bronze Kickboxing Programme.

Our day started with an inspiring whole school assembly led by our two inspirational Ambassadors. Danielle spoke about the highs and lows of her Paralympic career so far, teaching the students to be resilient when they are faced with a challenging situation. Danielle also brought along her shiny Paralympic gold medals with her, and the students were inspired by her stories of success and how she achieved them.

Danielle left the children with lots of positive messages for them to remember and use in their own lives, and encouraged them to always say and think, “I CAN” and to always try their best at everything they do. Danielle asked the children to shout this phrase as loud as they could and we could definitely hear the students from their classrooms. Khadijah followed on from Danielle and spoke to the students about believing in yourself and always respecting each other, as well as those around you, regardless of their background or sport. Khadijah left a lasting impression on the students and told them to always enjoy what they do and to put 100% effort into everything they do.

From Danielle’s presentation, the students also learnt a lot more about Danielle’s disability and how she has shown extreme resilience in the face of setbacks and challenges throughout her sporting journey. Both Danielle and Khadijah are fantastic role models to young people as they both have an incredibly positive outlook on life and a very strong growth mindset and the students at Ingham were inspired to be open minded and find ways to solve and rework problems and challenges, when you are faced with them in your future. It was a brilliant message for the students to hear all about how Danielle has used her experience in sport, and in her working life, to develop her own resilience and how the children can do this too in their lives.

After this inspiring presentation, both Danielle and Khadijah led some fantastic archery and judo sessions with the students at Ingham Primary. Danielle demonstrated how to load and fire an arrow and the students were amazed when she got a bullseye on her first shot! After this demonstration, the students had a go themselves and Danielle was extremely impressed with their perseverance to try again and again. Throughout these sessions, Danielle incorporated a fun relay race between the students, and they all encouraged and cheered each other on. As part of her Team GB training, Danielle had to practise shooting the arrow with her eyes closed. The students loved this part of the session and were very proud of themselves when they got a higher score with their eyes closed.

Meanwhile, inside, Khadijah led some amazing introductory kickboxing sessions. Khadijah inspired everyone to get moving as part of these sessions and taught them general kickboxing moves, including, “guard up” and the “jab cross”. The students put 110% effort into these sessions and loved every second. It was so much fun for them to be able to try something new with a little help from Khadijah.

Throughout these active and exciting sessions, Khadijah highlighted the importance of controlled movements and the students were inspired when Khadijah demonstrated some incredible kickboxing kicks and twists. During the Q&A, the most commonly asked question for Khadijah was from the students who really wanted to see Khadijah’s best Ninja moves!

We were so pleased to hear that so many of the students wanted to join a kickboxing class after this inspiring introductory session from Khadijah, so she encouraged them all to join a local club near them and give it a go.

During the day, as part of this Silver Archery Programme, Danielle also had the chance to meet her two awesome mentees. They had a introductory chat and even got to see Danielle’s gold medals up close in person! Danielle will be mentoring these two students over the next six months, talking about all things school, sport, mental health, diet and the Paralympics. It was great that Danielle was able to meet her two mentees in person before their wonderful mentoring journey starts and we can’t wait to hear all about it!

At the very end of each session, the students had time to ask Danielle and Khadijah some questions, including;

What inspires you?

Who inspired you to start kickboxing?

If you could do any other sport, what would it be and why?

What sport do you like the least?

Can I show you my best ninja move?

What challenges have you faced?

Have you ever felt like giving up?

If you could play another sport, what would it be?

Who is your role model?

How far do you shoot an arrow?

Have you ever been injured?

Thank you Ingham Primary for inviting us to your school. We all had a fantastic day and cannot wait to return again soon. We are also super excited to hear all about the Silver Mentoring journey with the incredible Danielle Brown MBE and look forward to seeing updates from your mentees. We are very grateful for all your support in helping us to organise this programme and for helping us to make it happen.

If you would like to know about local kickboxing and archery classes near you for your students/children to get involved with, please see the links below

Archery

• Ancaster Venue: Wood Lodge, Ancaster, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG32 3PY

• Friskney Bowmen Archery Field, Church Road, Friskney, PE22 8RD

Kickboxing

• Lincoln Fight Factory - LN5 8LG. Beginner sessions for Children: Monday, Wednesday & Thursday.

• Function First Unit 1 Dixon Way, Dixon St, Lincoln LN6 7DA

• Strike Zone 45-48 Croft St, Lincoln LN2 5AZ

• Chao Phraya Muay Thai Academy. Fight Specifix, Unit 3A, Exchange Road, Doddington Road, Lincoln LN6 3JY

If you are interested in a virtual or physical Programme with any of our other inspirational Ambassadors, then please get in touch via the Mintridge website at www.mintridgefoundation.org.uk or with Katie at katie@mintridge.org.uk.

The Mintridge Foundation is a registered charity dedicated to enhancing life skills in young people through sport. We provide a support network for young people by harnessing the power of positive sporting role models. The Mintridge Foundation assists young people of all ages, abilities, and physical capabilities to develop confidence and resilience, and creates awareness of the importance of mental and physical wellbeing through sport.

Our team of Ambassadors - Olympians, Paralympians and other professional sports stars from over 20 sports, both team and individual - work with young people in schools, clubs and academies across the UK. Starting with visits including assemblies, coaching clinics and classroom sessions tailored to each organisation’s requirements, our ambassadors can then provide one- on- one remote mentoring in a safeguarded environment, delivered via technology such as FitSwarm and Playwaze to build a lasting legacy for individuals.

The Mintridge Foundation’s successes demonstrate the incredible power of sport; from a mentee’s selection to represent Great Britain in their chosen field to enabling disabled children to find confidence and happiness just through participation. Understanding life after sport, we also support our Ambassadors in their transition from active sport to the next stage of their careers.

To find out more about the Mintridge Foundation, please contact Alex Wallace.

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