During our Bowbridge Homes programme, Emma Wiggs MBE asks the students at Frisby C of E Primary School, "Who is in your team ‘ME’ and how can you utilise those people to support your journey?"
Bowbridge Homes Bronze Presentation Programme with Emma Wiggs MBE at Frisby C of E Primary School – November 2021
It is not every day that a double Paralympic champion comes to visit your primary school!
The students at Frisby C of E Primary School were extremely delighted to be able to meet the amazing Emma Wiggs MBE, as part of our Bowbridge Homes supported programme. Not only did the students get to meet Emma, they also got to hear all about her incredible journey into Paracanoe and learn more about her most recent gold and silver wins during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games this summer.
Our partners, Bowbridge Homes, kindly sponsored this programme to support the students in the local area where they are developing and helped inspire more young people to get involved in sport and physical activity and reach for their goals in and out of school.
As a double Paralympic champion, Emma had numerous stories for the students about her road to success, but like any journey, also opened the students’ eyes to the challenges that she has faced along the way. With an inspiring message for the students about how she had to respond to becoming disabled and react to the setbacks she has faced, not only in Paracanoe but also in her former sport of sitting volleyball, the students could really resonate with Emma’s growth mindset and how she was resilient. Emma also referred to the schools’ tree of resilience that the students can also use to help guide them when times get tough.
Following her presentation and watching the amazing Tokyo 2020 gold medal win, Emma invited each child to come to the front and select an object from her Paralympic kit bag. Not only was this extremely exciting for the students to take part in, but it was also incredible for them to be able to see, feel and hear all about what is inside Emma’s kit bag and the emotional connection she has to the flags she displayed, her GB performance kit and the mementoes from the Games that made it an amazing experience for her, even after 18 months in a pandemic and a different Games to the one that was originally planned.
The students being able to see and feel these items, really made Emma’s achievements become real to them and enabled them to visualise what success could look like to them and if they dream big in their chosen passions.
The students quickly learnt during their time with Emma, that her support network and the team behind the team is the key to her success, and she challenged the students to think about who her team ‘ME’ is and who helps them on their journeys, as utilising those people could be the key to their success too.
During our morning, Emma gave the students the opportunity to ask any questions they had about her life and career so far, some of the best questions were:
How many medals do you have?
Do you have to eat healthy?
What made you want to be part of the Paralympics and how did you get into it?
Who inspires you?
What do you do when you get nervous?
We were delighted to be with the staff and students at Frisby C of E Primary School as part of this amazing Bowbridge Homes Programme and we know that meeting Emma was a memorable and incredibly inspiring experience for the students, as they work through their own journeys at this young age and dream big!
Thank you very much to Bowbridge Homes, who with this support have been able to inspire lots of students with this Mintridge programme and enable Emma Wiggs MBE to leave her lasting legacy on the young minds at Frisby C of E Primary School. We look forward to hopefully visiting them again soon in the future with another of our Ambassadors!
If you are interested in a virtual or physical Programme with Emma Wiggs MBE or 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.
Team Mintridge
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.