Clare Balding CBE & Alice Arnold
Clare Balding CBE & Alice Arnold
Mintridge Foundation Patrons
Clare & Alice became the Patrons of the Mintridge Foundation in December 2022 to help bridge the gap between sports stars and youth, and in turn raise aspirations.
They have spent time with the Mintridge Foundation Ambassadors from across the UK to help shape their stories and deliver the greatest impact possible and together, they will help grow the charity and take it to new heights.
“Through the Mintridge Foundation, we can support athletes in their transition phase from the field of play while feeding back their important messages into schools.
We are really interested in the next generation and ensuring that they get the opportunity to hear from athletes in the real world and see what can be possible for them - from all different backgrounds and from all walks of life.
We are bigger believers in the power of sport and everyone being included – sport in schools should be delivered in a much more holistic way and through Mintridge, this is possible.”
Winner of the BAFTA Special Award and RTS Presenter of the Year Award for her expert coverage of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Clare Balding CBE is one of Britain's leading broadcasters. She is also a best-selling and award-winning author of numerous books and children’s novels and an ardent campaigner for better coverage of women’s sport.
Alice Arnold trained at the Drama Studio Ealing. Her stage credits include Evita, Godspell, oh What a lovely War, the Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, As You Like It and The Tempest. She was a member of the BBC Radio Drama Company from 1989-90 and 1994-5 performing in radio plays and reading for Book at Bedtime, Poetry Please and With Great Pleasure. Alice then became an announcer and newsreader for Radio 4. Alice joined Mellow Magic in 2015 presenting the weekend Breakfast shows and the Olivier Awards.
.Clare and Alice live in London with their cats Button and Eric and you can see them regularly on Celebrity Gogglebox!
Purchase Clare’s Children’s Books Below & 50% will go towards the Mintridge Foundation!
“A very sincere thank you to The Mintridge Foundation for facilitating and enabling the afternoon with Clare at The Abbey last Thursday.
The school community was ‘fizzing’ with energy and excitement fed by Clare’s incredible passion, humour and extraordinary storytelling.
You and she created the most memorable and magical afternoon and I am proud to say that her ‘Dare to be Different’ talk was attended by students from 14 schools across Reading, so her impact will have been far and wide across the town.
I am in awe at how Clare powered through all the various elements of the afternoon!
I’m so impressed with what you are doing with this important mission to raise aspiration in young people through sport!
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“Clare’s energy and passion shine - she’s an incredible ambassador for inclusion. Congratulations on all you are achieving with this important mission at The Mintridge Foundation. ”
“Clare did a fantastic job expounding the merits of the Mintridge Foundation. ”
“Clare was making us laugh, keeping it real, and reminding us that in the grand old game of life, authenticity is the MVP.”
“Clare was fantastic! Very funny, very authentic, very important messages about the value of being true to yourself and of women’s sport in particular.”
“What a great event - Clare Balding was so entertaining and inspirational. ”
“Kindness is key! We particularly enjoyed the talk on getting young people involved in all assets of sport, instead of feeling they’re not good enough. This has always worked so well in theatre arts and enriched so many young lives that don’t want to perform! ”
“It was breathtaking hearing Clare talk and witnessing how The Abbey School is working not only with their students but also with the community and local schools, celebrating young people.”
“A wise man often says to me that the world belongs to those with stamina. The formation of Mintridge has needed just that. ✨
“Who would your ideal Patron be?” ✨
This was a question often asked when we got charitable status for The Mintridge Foundation. ✨
“Clare Balding of course” was always the response from day one. ✨
Fate brought us together on a Zoom Breakout room thanks to the many opportunities that the Women’s Sport Trust presents and a meeting at Burghley was thrown in for good measure! ✨
To be able to share the news that Clare is coming on board as well as the fact that it will be alongside Alice is just staggering (of course I’ve cried lots of happy tears). Their years of experience and passion for our cause is the fire needed to be able to help make our small charity’s big ambitions possible. ✨
All I can say is thank you. Thank you Clare, thank you Alice. As my tears might have suggested, I can’t quite articulate how grateful I am to you both - to have the backing and belief from two incredibly influential and inspiring women hasn’t quite sunk in yet but I’m so very ready for 2023 as we amplify Team Mintridge with Katie Smith and our extremely supportive Board of Trustees led by Jackie Scully MAC. Thank you Tara Belcher, Sally Peck, Karrie Bassett, Thomas Cardwell, Karin Seymour, John Doonan and Kate Rham.
P.S the wise man is my Dad. Thank you Norman Paske. ✨
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