Our Supporters
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Michael Atherton OBE
Former England Cricket Captain, currently a Journalist & Broadcaster
Born in Failsworth, Manchester, educated at Manchester Grammar and then Downing College, Cambridge, Lancashire opening batsman Michael Atherton became England cricket captain at the age of 25. He played 115 tests for England scoring a total of 7,728 runs at an average of 37.69. His test career included 46 half centuries and 16 hundreds with a top score of 185 not out against South Africa at Johannesburg in 1995.
Following retirement, Michael has forged a very successful second career as a journalist and broadcaster. He is currently chief cricket correspondent with The Times and a key member of the highly successful Sky Sports Cricket team. Michael was awarded the OBE for his services to cricket in 1997.
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As a massive Lancashire CCC & England Cricket fan, I am beyond thrilled and very honoured to receive Michael's support for our Marathon for Mental Health in 2020.
Damian Cronin
Former Scotland & British & Irish Lions Rugby Union Player
Damian is a former Scottish International and British and Irish Lions rugby union player who played his club rugby with Bath and London Scottish FC. Damian, who played second row lock forward, was a key member of Scotland's Grand Slam winning team in 1990 and played in both the 1991 and 1995 World Cups. Throughout his career, he won 45 caps for Scotland scoring 5 tries.
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Damian toured New Zealand with the Lions in 1993, the last tour where players were officially amateur.
Having taught three of his girls in primary school, I am very pleased that Damian still likes me enough to throw his support behind our project to help young people.
Tommy Fleetwood
Ryder Cup star currently ranked 10th in the World Golf Rankings
Tommy Fleetwood is an English professional golfer currently ranked as the 10th best in the world (April, 2020). Tommy turned professional in 2010 and has won 8 times on the professional tour. He has also performed superbly in the Majors, finishing runner-up in the US Open in 2018 and also The Open Championship at Royal Portrush in 2019. It's surely only a matter of time before he goes one step further and is crowned as a major champion.
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Tommy played a massive part in the European Ryder Cup team victory over the USA at Le Golf Nacional in Paris in 2018. Alongside partner Francesco Molinari, they became the first pair in Ryder Cup history to win their first 4 matches, leading to their pairing being nicknamed 'Moliwood'. The 4 points earned by 'Moliwood' contributed hugely to the eventual European victory by 17.5 points to 10.5.
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We are thrilled that Tommy has chosen to support our cause by donating a signed shirt from the 2018 Ryder Cup victory over the USA. This will be auctioned with the funds going directly to support the most pressing cause for concern. The Holy Family community will be out in force at The Open Championship at Royal St George's in July 2021 to cheer Tommy on!
Adam Fogerty
Former Rugby League player & professional boxer currently working in movies & TV
Born in Halifax, Adam Fogerty first made his name as a strong running & tough tackling rugby league player with Halifax RLFC and most famously with St Helens where he won a Super League Champions medal in 1996.
Following retirement from rugby league, Adam took up a second career as a heavyweight professional boxer where he won 18 out of 19 fights before embarking on a third career as an actor in movies and television. He has starred alongside many Hollywood and film legends including Michael Caine, Brad Pitt, Daniel Craig, Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro and Helen Mirren. His most famous starring roles include ‘Gorgeous George’ in Guy Ritchie’s film ‘Snatch’ and as a prisoner/footballer alongside Vinnie Jones in the movie ‘Mean Machine’ His TV credits include Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Casualty and The Steve Coogan Show amongst many roles.
Rugby league has always been my most favourite sport of all and I watched Adam play many times; I am therefore delighted to receive Adam’s support with our marathon for mental health this year.
Lee Dixon
Former Arsenal and England Footballer
Lee Dixon was born in Manchester and started his professional football career as a winger playing for Burnley before moving on to Chester City, Bury and Stoke City. At the age of 24, Lee joined Arsenal in a joint signing deal with Stoke City defensive partner Steve Bould. Lee went on to play 458 games for Arsenal, scoring 25 goals from right fullback. His very impressive performances for his club also led to 22 caps for England.
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Lee was an integral part of the infamous Arsenal back four over a period of 15 years and collected many honours including 2 First Division titles, two Premier League titles, 3 FA Cup Winners medals and a European Cup Winners Cup medal. He was also heavily involved in one of the most dramatic late goals in recent football history; in 1989 at Anfield, needing a goal in injury time to snatch the league title, it was Lee who played the ball forward to Alan Smith to feed in Michael Thomas who scored a sensational winning goal and hand Arsenal the Championship.
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Since retiring from football, Lee has forged a new career as a football pundit and has regularly appeared on Match of the Day, ITV and numerous other TV stations. He’s also a very accomplished scratch golfer which he proved when he joined us at Woking Golf Club for our inaugural Bee-lieve Foundation Golf Day. Lee is a top man and we’re very proud to call him one of our supporters.
Paul Drinkhall
Great Britain Table Tennis and Former Commonwealth Champion
Born in Middlesbrough, Paul enjoyed great success from a young age, winning numerous national age-group titles. Indeed, he became English Champion at every age eligible age group – Under 10, Under 11, Under 12, Under 14, Under 17 and Senior Men.
His excellent performances on the table saw him finish runner up to Theo Walcott in the 2005 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year. In 2008 he finished runner up in the World Junior Table Tennis Championships and followed this up with a Silver and Bronze medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. He also collected a team Bronze with England at the 2016 World Championships and the 2018 World Cup.
Perhaps Paul’s greatest achievement of all came in the 2014 Commonwealth Games mixed doubles in Glasgow when he claimed a Gold medal with his wife Joanna. He followed this Gold with another in the 2018 Commonwealth Games doubles in Australia alongside Liam Pitchford.
Paul has represented Great Britain at the last 3 Olympics, reaching the last 32 in London 2012, the last 16 in Rio 2016 (only the 3rd British player to ever each this stage) and the last 32 in Tokyo 2021.
Paul has played in all the top European Table Tennis leagues since 2008 and is very highly regarded and respected on the circuit. He is an incredibly humble human being, always ready to help others, and epitomises everything Bee-lieve Foundation stands for. We are privileged to know him as a friend and supporter.
Get Set 4 PE
Leading the way in online support for the Primary PE curriculum
Get Set4PE was founded by primary school PE teachers Kathryn Whittall and Natalie Richardson in 2017.
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Their vision was to design a resource to connect teachers and pupils to high quality PE, with everything needed in one place. The aim was to create a platform that is simple and easy to use, saving teachers significant time on planning and assessment, whilst increasing their confidence in delivery.
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Holy Family Headteacher Steve Tindall First met Kat and Natalie at the Youth Sport Trust National Conference in 2017 and their platform provided the very resource the school had been looking for. Since then, the school have fully implemented the Get Set4PE planning and assessment which has further enhanced the high quality PE curriculum provided for all children. in 2020, Get Set4PE approached Holy Family to provide their first ever case study about the positive impact of their platform on the delivery of high quality PE in a primary school. You can see this case study by clicking on the following link.
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https://www.getset4pe.co.uk/case-studies
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We are delighted to have Kat and Natalie supporting our Marathon for Mental Health in 2020.
Andy Grant
Motivational Speaker, former Royal Marine Commando & Double Gold Medallist at The Invictus Games
Andy Grant is one truly inspirational human being! This former Royal Marine with 45 Commando was severely injured during an IED explosion in Afghanistan in 2009 leading to the loss of his right leg.
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Andy has since gone on to rebuild his life, learning to ski. surf and win two gold medals at the Invictus Games in London in 2014. He also went on to become the World's fastest single leg amputee running 10k in 37 minutes and 17 seconds.
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Andy now spends his time inspiring others as a motivational speaker - if you ever get the chance to listen to him, please do grab the opportunity with both hands. Andy's autobiography "You'll Never Walk" is now out and is well worth a read.
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It is a huge privilege to have Andy's support and good wishes for our Marathon for Mental Health in 2020
James Hare
Former WBC Welterweight Champion of the World
Born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire James Hare turned professional boxer in 1996 at the age of 19. After building an impressive early career where he became European Union Champion, James became Commonwealth welterweight champion in 2002 when he defeated Australian Julian Holland with a sixth round stoppage. Successful defences of his crown led to a world title fight in 2003 with Ukrainian Roman Dhuzman at the iconic Manchester Evening News Arena.
James put on a masterclass as he out-boxed the brave and talented Dhuzman to win by unanimous points decision 120-109, 120, 108 and 119-108 on the judges’ scorecards. James then followed this up with two successful defences against tough opponents before losing his crown to Mexican Chino Rivera in 2003.
James ended his professional boxing career with a record of 33 wins and 3 defeats. I am very pleased that James joins Barry Jones and Adam Fogerty as the third boxer supporting our marathon for mental health.
Barry Jones
Former WBO Super Featherweight Champion of the World
Born in Cardiff, Welsh boxer Barry Jones became WBO Super Featherweight Champion of the world in 1997 at the age of 23 when he defeated Colombian Wilson Palacio with a unanimous points decision, winning 116-112, 118-110, 118-110 on the judges’ scorecards.
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Since retiring, Barry has become a much respected and universally liked pundit with Box Nation, BT Sport and Sky Sports. He can frequently be seen giving his expert analysis, style breakdowns and predictions ahead of major world title fights. Most recently he provided a fascinating pre-fight insight ahead of Tyson Fury’s victory over Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas. Barry certainly knows his stuff.
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When he’s not working, Barry can be found turning in some excellent performances at right fullback in Vets football…and keeping the changing room entertained with his wit, banter and stories!
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I am absolutely thrilled to welcome Barry as a key supporter of the 2020 Marathon for Mental Health. Thanks Champ!
Ani Magill CBE
CEO of Xavier Catholic Education Trust
Inspirational, compassionate, people-centred and visionary are just four words to describe the CEO of Xavier Catholic Education Trust. Ani has a profoundly positive impact on those she meets and her approachability and trust in her people provides a source of motivation and self-belief. After almost 40 years in education, Ani is the perfect role model for every Xavier employee to follow and aspire to emulate.
Prior to taking up the role of CEO, Ani was Head teacher of the incredibly successful St John the Baptist School in Woking, a National Leader of Education, and a member of the Secretary of State’s consultative group of head teachers.
Ani’s incredible service to education culminated in the award of a CBE in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Despite all the accolades, Ani remains a study of humility and in her own words “my continuing passion is to strive for excellence for all the children whom we serve." There is a strong message in there for all of us to follow.
To receive Ani’s support for our marathon for mental health is both motivational and inspiring; it will be in the front, centre and back of my mind if I so much as think I am feeling tired at any time!
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Cardinal Vincent Nichols
English Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.
Born in Crosby, Liverpool, on 8 November 1945, Vincent Nichols studied for the priesthood at the Venerable English College in Rome from 1963 to 1970. He was ordained priest in Rome on 21 December 1969 for the Archdiocese of Liverpool.
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After many important roles in the church, including the Archbishop of Birmingham, Vincent Nichols was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on 3rd April 2009 as the 11th Archbishop of Westminster, the principal see of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. He was then elected as president of the Catholic Bishop Conference of England and Wales on 30th April 2009.
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On 12 January 2014 Pope Francis announced that Nichols would be created a cardinal and on 22 February 2014, The Holy Father presented the traditional red biretta and gold ring during a ceremony in Saint Peter's Basilica.
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His coat of arms includes a blue wavy band on a silver shield to represent the River Mersey, scallop shells o represent the Venerable English College in Rome, the red rose of Lancashire and anchors representing Liverpool: surmounted by the customary red galero (ecclesiastical hat) with thirty red cords and tassels (for a cardinal).
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I feel very privileged to receive the blessing and support of Cardinal Nichols for our marathon for mental health.
Ali Oliver
Youth Sport Trust's Chief Executive Officer
The Youth Sport Trust (YST) is a children's charity working to ensure every child enjoys the life-changing benefits that come from play and sport. For over 20 years they have led the way in pioneering new ways of using sport to improve children's well being and providing as brighter future for every child.
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Ali became CEO of the YST in 2015 following the departure of Baroness Sue Campbell. She joined the YST in 2004 carrying our duties including leading strategic partnerships and the post of managing director. She has worked in education and sports development for over 20 years. Prior to joining the YST, Ali was Head of PE at Millfield School, Somerset then Deputy Director of Sport and Director of Netball at The University of Bath.
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Holy Family Headteacher Steve Tindall first met Ali in 2014 when he was honoured to be invited to become a YST Headteacher Ambassador for the South East region. Carrying out this role is an incredible privilege and it is truly wonderful to work alongside an organisation that are equally passionate about supporting the physical and emotional well being of young people.
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We are incredibly proud to have Ali and The Youth Sport Trust working alongside us as one of our key supporters. To find out more about the amazing work of the YST click on the following link
https://www.youthsporttrust.org/
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Hannah Russell MBE
Double Paralympic Gold Medallist
Hannah, who is visually impaired, is a former Holy Family pupil who set her sights on becoming a Paralympic swimming champion at the age of 8. At the Rio Paralympic Games in 2016, Hannah achieved her lifetime ambition winning Gold in the S12 1OOm backstroke in a world record time and a second Gold in the 50m freestyle. In total, Hannah has won 2 Paralympic Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze medals.
Hannah has also been European and World Champion in 100m backstroke and World Champion in 50m freestyle. She has won a total of 2 World Championship Golds, 5 Silver and 1 Bronze medals. She has won 2 European Championship Golds, 6 Silver and 1 Bronze medals.
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Hannah is one of our official Holy Family role-models and an amazing inspiration to all the children in the school. We are very proud of all she has achieved and the incredible humility she displays at all times.
Jon Smedley
Co-Founder & Director of Teach Active
Jon is a former primary school teacher, PE advisor & Wirral LEA Leadership consultant who launched 'Maths of The Day' at the Youth Sport Trust National Conference in 2015. Jon first met Holy Family Headteacher Steve Tindall early that year leading to the formation of a very strong professional partnership.
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Within 3 years, MOTD was being used in over 1000 schools across the UK leading to it featuring in the 2019 Parliamentary Review for Outstanding contribution to education. MOTD's case study featured contributions and evidence from Holy Family School.
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In 2019, Maths of the Day was re-branded as 'Teach Active' as new English plans were introduced to the platform and they continue to lead the way in providing innovative and exciting ways fr primary school children to access core subject learning.
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We are proud and privileged to have Teach Active on board as one of our key supporters.
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For more information on the fabulous resources they provide, check out their website: www.teachactive.org