Inspirational Visit from Ben Smith from 'The 401 Challenge' and Paralympic Learning and Discovery Day

The 25th June was a very special day for our students as we received a visit from Ben Smith, Athlete Mentor from The Youth Sport Trust and official Ambassador for National School Sports Week 2019. Ben's story is truly inspirational, not least his incredible endeavour of running 401 marathons in 401 days in 2015-2016. You can read more about this incredible feat and what inspired it here: https://www.the401challenge.co.uk/about/inspiration

Ben spoke to our community in assembly before joining in with Year 7 PE; his first (and probably last!) ever experience of dodge-ball!! He was given a lesson by our Year 7s, especially Kai!! Ben then

listened to some fantastic questions from the students before going for a run with them all outside.

From there, Ben and the team from The Youth Sport Trust joined ANOTHER amazing athlete mentor; Charlotte Hartley from the England Hockey team that won Commonwealth Bronze in 2006, along with Mr White, Mrs Corcoran, our 6th form 'Healthy Lifestyle Champions' (HLCs) and 50 primary-aged pupils from 6 schools across Wirral in a Paralympic learning and Discovery Day at Leasowe Recreation Centre. Our HLCs were perfect role models and sports leaders as the pupils got to experience inclusive badminton, fencing, 'New-Age Kurling,' Boccia, VI Athletics, sitting-volleyball and goal-ball.

An absolutely unforgettable day. We are looking forward to following Ben on his amazing challenge next year; to run 50 marathons, one in each state of the USA in just over 100 days (cycling in-between each one!) totalling 18,500 miles. You can find out more about Ben's charity and USA-2020 here: https://www.the401challenge.co.uk/usa-2020

Pictures to follow.