Speakers

Adrian Moorhouse MBE

Adrian Moorhouse won a Gold medal in the 100m breaststroke in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Adrian is a former SportsAid alumni so fully understands the importance of the grants and the impact they can make in enabling young talent to compete on the international stage.

Alex Waller

Alex is a rugby union player for Premiership side Northampton Saints.

Born in Kettering, Waller is a product of the Northampton Saints Academy and made his debut in November 2009 against the Ospreys.

Ama Agbeze MBE

Ama Agbeze MBE is an England netball international. She was captain when England won the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. In 2019 she received an MBE for her services to netball. She was also a member of the England team that won the bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Amy Williams MBE

Amy talked about how she became part of the British Skeleton development programme while studying at Bath University, going on to represent Great Britain and win the Women’s Skeleton event, achieving Britain’s first gold medal in an individual event at the Winter Olympics for 30 years, and the first by a woman for 58 years.

Anna Hemmings MBE

Anna Hemmings is Britain’s most successful female marathon kayaker with a staggering eleven World and European Championship medals, 9 of them gold.

By the age of 24, Anna had been World Champion 3 times and competed at the Olympic Games. In 2010 she was awarded an MBE for her services to sport.

She achieved this success against all the odds…

At the peak of her career, Anna was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and was told by medical experts she might never race again. She battled her way to full recovery and went on to win a further 3 world titles and compete at her second Olympic Games in Beijing 2008.

Anthony Ogogo

Ben Woods

Former rugby union player, Ben Woods played for both the Newcastle Falcons and the Leicester Tigers as an openside flanker. Now retired from the sport, Ben has taken on the role as a BT SportsPundit and speaker.

First called up to the international team in 2006, Ben was part of the England Saxons squad that took part in the Churchill Cup in both 2006 and 2007, successfully beating Ireland A in 2008. He was also called up to feature in the 2009 Churchill Cup and the Heineken Cup. Furthermore, Ben has been involved in coaching for rugby athletes such as GB Sevens’ Phil Burgess and Exeter’s Will Chudley, and often helps out and advises some of the Under 18 and Under 20’s squads, as well as some University squads.

Forced into retirement early in 2012 as a result of a wrist injury, Ben was soon snapped up to commentate for a number of media outlets at various sporting events.

Beth Tweddle MBE

Beth is a retired gymnast and was the first GB female to win a medal at Europeans/Worlds and Olympic Games – where she won bronze at London 2012 on the uneven bars.

Beth is a familiar face in the media having commentated on the sport at the Tokyo Games.

GB gymnastics is now in a phenomenally successful place and Beth was a major catalyst of the rise.

Bethany Woodward

Bethany Woodward Bethany is a multi discipline Paralympic athlete who competes for Great Britian in the 200m, 400m and long jump. With a successful career ahead, Bethy is focused on winning medals at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games this year and the Olympics in Rio is 2016. Amongst Bethy’s achievements she competed in the London 2012 Paralympics winning two medals for Great Britain.

Charlotte Edwards CBE

Charlotte is a former English professional cricketer who was captain of the England women’s team.

Chemmy Alcott

4x Winter Olympian, a career high ranking of 8th in the World, 7x British National Overall Champion and the only British female skier to ever win a run in a World Cup, Chemmy Alcott is widely regarded as one of Britain’s greatest ever skiers.

Chloe Rogers

Field Hockey player and bronze medallist at London 2012

Colin Hendry

Colin Hendry is a retired Scottish professional footballer, and he was an important member of the Blackburn Rovers squad which won the English Premier League title in 1995 and Captain of Scotland at the World Cup Finals. Aside from the Premier League win, Colin was part of the Rangers squad that won the Scottish domestic treble in 1998/99. He has since had management stints at Blackpool and Clyde. Colin first played for local clubs, Keith of the Scottish Highland Football League, and Islavale – a North Scottish Junior Football League Club, mainly as a striker. He began his full-time professional career in 1983 with Dundee, and in 1987 was transferred to Blackburn Rovers, where he was converted into a defender.

Colin Hendry remains a celebrated figure in Scottish football and among Blackburn Rovers fans, for his contributions to the club’s historic Premier League title win.

Dame Katherine Grainger

Katherine won Olympic silver at Rio 2016, gold at London 2012 to add to her silver medals from Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004, and Beijing in 2008, as well as six world championships titles in her collection. Katherine is Britain’s most decorated female Olympic athlete and the first British woman to win medals at five successive games.

Danny Crates

Danny is described as ‘one of the world’s most inspiring athletes of the modern era’. Recently retired from International competition the former T46 arm amputee, 2004 Paralympic Champion, European Champion, Paralympic World Cup winner and world record holder recently presented Channel 4s coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Danny is renowned global keynote and after dinner speaker, event host, TV presenter, owner of a high-performance coaching business, 1404 Performance and a personal performance & career development coach and a published author.

David Ripley

David Ripley (born 13 September 1966, Leeds, Yorkshire is an England cricket coach and former cricketer who played for Northamptonshire in county cricket from 1984-2001.

He took 678 catches and 85 stumpings. In his 307 first-class games he scored 8693 runs at 28.40 with nine centuries.

He attended Royds comprehensive school where he also excelled in football. He played youth cricket for Carlton Cricket Club, and for Leeds Loe Lumb and Yorkshire Colts at representative level, winning his Yorkshire cap at age 14.

Ripley was appointed vice-captain of Northamptonshire in 1999 and became captain in his final season, replacing Matthew Hayden. In 1998 he put on 401 for the fifth wicket with Mal Loye against Glamorgan. To date they are the only Northamptonshire pair to ever put on 400 runs.

His most prolific year with the gloves came in 1988 with 81 dismissals. In the same year he took six dismissals in an innings against Sussex.

Ripley served as the first team coach at Northamptonshire between 2012 and 2021 (replacing the late David Capel).

In 2013, Ripley led Northants to promotion from County Championship Division 2 and the Friend Life T20. In 2016, Ripley led the County to a second NatWest T20 Blast success.

Derek Redmond

Derek, who was world 4 x 400m relay champion in 1991 and was famously carried across the finishing line by his father at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics after a devastating hamstring injury, kept the audience entertained with stories of life on the athletics circuit. Now a respected coach, advisor and commentator, he was the past recipient of a SportsAid grant, and spoke about the importance of supporting young athletes and what a difference the grant had made to him.

Donna Fraser

Donna was full of insight into the competitive world of British athletics – a finalist in 1998 at the European Championships and Commonwealth Games (where she took a bronze medal), Donna also played an integral part of Britain’s 4×400 relay team, taking medals at the World Championships in 2005, European Championships and Commonwealth Games.

Dr Hannah McLeod MBE

Dr Hannah MacLeod MBE is a double Olympic medallist, with the record-breaking Great Britain Women’s hockey team, culminating in winning Gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She has a doctorate in Exercise Physiology and coaches leaders and teams in FTSE 100 companies.

Hannah was born in Boston, Lincolnshire 9^th June 1984 and grew up moving around the country due to her Dads career in the Royal Air Force. Hannah’s journey started when she was inspired by the performances of Linford Christie and Sally Gunnell at the 1992 Olympic Games. An accomplished athlete from an early age, however, as a shy, quiet and unassuming child, Hannah was drawn to team sports, in particular football. When Hannah was not allowed to join her primary school team because ‘girls weren’t allowed’ she turned to hockey. A relatively late starter, it wasn’t until Hannah went to secondary school that she was introduced to the sport during a PE lesson. With the support of her PE teacher she joined a hockey club and fell in love with the sport.

Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards

Eddie shot to fame by becoming Britain’s first ever competitive ski jumper when he took part in the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics and more recently hit the headlines by winning ITV’s Splash celebrity diving competition. Edwards kept the audience entertained with tales of how he struggled to fund his Olympic dreams – including eating food from waste bins, using equipment donated by other teams and even staying in a mental hospital to save on accommodation costs.

Fatima Whitbread MBE

Fatima Whitbread, MBE is a world javelin champion, world record holder and twice Olympic medallist. She was honoured with the Helen Rollason Award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2023. The Helen Rollason Award recognises outstanding achievement in the face of adversity.

After Fatima’s inspirational career as an athlete, the former BBC Sports Personality of the Year winner headed the Chafford Hundred elite runners club whose members included Linford Christie and Dame Kelly Holmes. Fatima has served as a school governor, is a qualified javelin coach, and spent many hours reporting at the Olympics.

Gail Emms MBE

Gail is an Olympic, European and All-England champion winning Badminton player.

She won silver with Nathan Robertson at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Gareth Chilcott

Gareth Chilcott, former Bath, England and British Lions player has always been recognised as one of the game’s true characters. When in full attack, his famed headband and trademark moustache, coupled with his fearsome visage were never calculated to put his opponents at ease. Always giving the game 110 per cent, he gained respect both in this country and abroad.

Gary Alliss

Highly respected sports speaker, Gary Alliss, embodies British golf. Whether he is playing on the green or coaching the sport’s most promising players, Gary is internationally recognised for his unbeatable skill and motivating nature.

Titled the PGA King of Swing, audiences find themselves captivated by his presence. Gary’s stories originate from the peak of elite sport, inviting guests to journey through the history of modern golf, starting with his professional debut in 1973.

Gary Rees

The one club man, playing his entire career with Nottingham RFC, Rees enjoyed many years of success with the midlands side until the early 90s, where he severed his playing duties to take over an assistant coaching role. Making over 20 appearances throughout the 1980s for his country, Rees was selected for two Rugby World Cups in 1987 and 1991.

Geoff Miller OBE

Geoff provided the audience with an insight into the many highlights of his sporting career, playing with the likes of Viv Richards, Ian Botham and Geoff Boycott, and talked of the great “honour and privilege” of being the person who makes “players dreams come true” by selecting them to play for their country.

Goldie Sayers

Goldie Sayers is a three-time Olympian, Olympic medallist and British record holder for the javelin. She is a former Great Britain athletics team captain who amassed 11 national titles during a 15 year career as a professional athlete. Goldie grew up in Newmarket and also lived in Cambridge for several years whilst training for the Beijing Olympics. Having retired from professional sport in 2016, she is now the Director of successful property investment business Athlete Property Investment Ltd.

Graham Gooch OBE

Graham Gooch was the most prolific run-scorer top-class cricket has ever seen. After he retired in 1997, the statistician Robert Brooke calculated that he had scored 22,211 runs in List A cricket which, added to his 44,846 first-class runs, put him ahead of Jack Hobbs.

Graham Thorpe MBE

Thorpey is a former English cricketer who played for England internationally and Surrey domestically. A left-handed middle-order batsman and slip fielder, he appeared in exactly 100 Test matches. Graham is now the batting coach for the national team and England won the 2019 One Day World Cup.

Greg Rutherford MBE

Greg memorably won London 2012 gold on Super Saturday when he joined Jess Ennis and Mo Farah who all struck gold in the space of 44 unfathomable minutes on the track. He has also held every available elite outdoor title at the same time: National, Continental, World, Olympic, Diamond League and Commonwealth.

Greg Searle MBE

Greg Searle is an Olympic gold medalist, winning the coxed pairs event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics with his brother Jonny Searle and cox Garry Herbert.

After retiring in 2000 after Sydney, he returned to international rowing at the age of 38.

He won bronze at Dorney Lake at the London 2012 Games at the age of 40!

Ian Robertson

Ian, who was fresh from this year’s Rugby World Cup, kept an audience of more than 155 local business people entertained with anecdotes and stories from his lengthy career commentating around the world.

Jamie Baulch

A retired Welsh sprint athlete. Won silver at Atlanta 1990 Games in 4×400 relay.

Jeff Probyn

The Old Albanian, Streatham and Wasps prop was selected in England’s squad for the 1987 Rugby World Cup, but Probyn did not make his international debut until 1988, at the age of 31, against France. Inexplicably left out of the 1993 Lions squad that toured New Zealand, Probyn toured South Africa with a World XV in 1989, played for the Lions against France in 1989 and was a member of the Wasps FC side that won the English Courage league in 1990. In total, he won 37 caps for England and scored 3 tries.

After retirement from playing, Probyn was a member of Club England, the Rugby Football Union Committee. He was the manager of the England U21 team from 1994 to 1997 during which time he introduced Clive Woodward and Andy Robinson as coaches to representative rugby. After managing the U21 teams tour of Australia, where they played as a warm-up for the first ever Cooke cup game between England and Australia, he returned to the RFU council and sat on the Club England group that elected Woodward as England coach. He sat on the 2006 review that saw the replacement of England’s world cup winning coaches with the current team, led by Martin Johnson.

Jeff Probyn

Jessica Varnish

Karen Pickering MBE

Karen has won more major championship medals for Britain than any other female swimmer and has won more Commonwealth medals than any other female athlete in any sport. What makes her achievements even more remarkable is that in 1996 she broke her back in a car accident and fought her way back to world competition!

Kyran Bracken MBE

Kyran Bracken is best known for being part of England’s 2003 Rugby World Cup-winning side. He also represented the British and Irish Lions and played for both Bristol and Saracens. A regular pundit for leading broadcasters Kyran also won Dancing on Ice. Available to book as a speaker he has a wide range of topics that will keep any audience on the edge of their seat, speaking openly about his career, what it takes to achieve at the highest level and his battles with mental health issues.

A sporting star from a young age Kyran went on trial at Liverpool Football Club as well as toying with the idea of playing rugby league for St Helens. He chose to play Union though and spent four years at Bristol, combining his playing career with his work as a solicitor. He made his England debut in 1993 while at the club. In 1996 he moved to Saracens as Rugby Union became professional. He played 128 times for the club and won the Tetley’s Bitter Cup in 1998 as well as being named captain. While at Saracens he continued to be capped for England and was part of the 2003 World Cup-winning team. He was also named in the British and Irish Lions tour in 1997. He retired from playing in 2006 after having played 175 times at club level and 51 times for England. He also received an MBE following the World Cup triumph.

Since retiring he has been a pundit on Sky Sports and the BBC, covering the biggest games in the sport.

Leon Lloyd

Leicester Tigers and England Rugby star.

Leon Taylor

Lizzie Yarnold OBE

Lord Chris Holmes

Chris is Britain’s most successful Paralympic swimmer winning a total of 9 golds, 5 silvers and 1 bronze. He was also Director of Paralympic Integration, responsible for the organisation of the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.

As a boy Chris was a promising sportsman; on school teams for most sports and academically gifted with a distinct ambition to get to Cambridge University, by no means a normal next step from the Kidderminster Comprehensive he attended. At the age of 14 and completely unexpectedly Chris went blind overnight. His extraordinary courage and determination took him back into the pool, and just four years later to straight A’s for his A-levels and a place at Cambridge. At the end of his first year at Cambridge he won a record-breaking six gold medals at the Barcelona Paralympics.

Louis Smith MBE

Louis Smith is a former British medal-winning Olympian who is the only British gymnast to have won a medal in three Olympic Games.

A wonderful role model for young people and aspiring Olympians across the country, Louis Smith has become a sought after motivational speaker at schools, universities and businesses.

Helping teams to maximise performance and offering students advice and inspiration for pursuing their ambitions, Louis is a charming, high-energy speaker with a passion for the world of athletics. Louis first showed his immense potential at junior level where he became European Champion in 2004 and 2006. His first senior win followed when he won gold in the Pommel Horse at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, as well as a team bronze. Louis would come accustomed to winning after his first taste of senior success, finishing on the podium with a bronze medal at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships and again at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Arguably Louis’ biggest moment was yet to come, and at the London 2012 Olympic Games, he brought joy to the home crowd to win Olympic silver in the Pommel Horse as well as a bronze medal in the men’s artistic team all-round. For his efforts in London, he received an MBE for services to gymnastics, as well as compete in the 2012 series of Strictly Come Dancing, where he would go onto win the show with dance partner Flavia Cacace. Many more medals would follow including European and Commonwealth success, with gold medals in Glasgow and Montpellier, in addition to a memorable silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, to polish off a remarkable career with a haul of 20 medals across major sporting events.

In recent times Louis has also teamed up with S Club 7 star, Rachel Stevens, Blue band member Lee Ryan and Pussycat Dolls singer Melody Thornton for Rip it Up The 70s Show in the West End, featuring an evening of singing and dancing from the songbooks of Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, The Carpenters, Pink Floyd and much much more. The dynamic show follows the success of Rip it Up The 60s featuring male winners of Strictly Come Dancing, including Aston Merrygold, Jay McGuinness, Harry Judd and Louis Smith himself.

Luther Blissett

Born in Jamaica and renowned as a striker, Luther Blissett is a former professional footballer and manager who played for the English national team during the 1980s. Blissett is best known for his time at Watford, where he helped the team win a spectacular series of promotions from the Fourth Division to the First Division.

Mark Blundell

Mark Blundell is a British racing driver who competed in F1 and Indy Car before winning the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1992. Mark drove for McLaren in 1995 alongside Mika Hakkinen after replacing Nigel Mansell who couldn’t fit in the car!

As Mark’s racing career was winding down, he joined ITV as an analyst for the 2002 F1 season and was a regular until coverage moved to the BBC in 2008

He now runs a successful sports marketing, events and talent management agency.

Mark Foster

Throughout his remarkable career, Mark has won 51 major international medals, competed in 5 Olympics, been 6 times World Champion, 11 times European champion, 2 times Commonwealth champion and broke the world record 8 times.

Mark Lawrenson

Mark Lawrenson, is a former professional footballer who played as a defender for Liverpool, among others, during the 1970s and 1980s. After a short career as a manager, he then became a radio, television and internet pundit for the BBC, TV3, BT Sport and Today FM, retiring at the end of the 2021–22 football season.

Born and raised in England, Lawrenson qualified to play for the Republic of Ireland through his grandfather, Thomas Crotty, who was born in Waterford.

Martin Bayfield

Matt Tait

Matthew Hoggard

Cricket legend.

Micky Quinn

Former Wigan Athletic, Stockport County, Oldham Athletic, Portsmouth, Newcastle United and Coventry City striker.

Michael “Micky” Quinn played as a centre-forward for the vast majority of his career. However, despite being a consistent goal scorer, he was more notorious for his large build.

Following his retirement from football in 1996, Quinn has become a professional racehorse trainer and now has stables at Newmarket in Suffolk. He also covers horse racing and football for TalkSport radio.

Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock

Neil “Razor” Ruddock is a former professional footballer and television personality who is a club director at Enfield.

As a player he was a central defender from 1986 to 2003, and was voted the 17th “hardest footballer of all time”. He made his debut at Millwall, having been associated with the club since the age of 13, and also represented Tottenham Hotspurs, Southampton, Liverpool, West Ham United Crystal Palace, QPR and Swindon Town during a professional career spanning 17 years. He was capped once by England, in 1994.

Ruddock came out of retirement in 2015, aged 46, to play for United Counties League side Wellingborough Whitworth. He has since appeared on a variety of television shows including ‘I’m a Celebrity …get me out of here’ and Celebrity MasterChef.

Neil Back MBE

Neil is a former international rugby union star. He played for England and the British & Irish Lions and also played for Nottingham RFC, Leicester Tigers, and captained both England and Leicester during his career.

Pamela Cookey

• Ex England Netball Captain
• 7x Time Super League Champion (5 with Team Bath and 2 with Surrey Storm)
• 2x Commonwealth Bronze Medals
• 2x World Championship Bronze Medals
• Sky Sports Netball Commentary Team

Paul Merson

Paul Merson is an English football television pundit (appearing on Soccer Saturday with Jeff Stelling) and former professional footballer and manager.

Originally a forward, Merson found success as an attacking midfielder and playmaker, with a glittering career for Arsenal, Middlesborough, Aston Villa and Portsmouth, including 21 caps for England.

With 600 professional appearances and a former PFA young player of the year, Paul won the majority of his honours with Arsenal including 2 league championships, 1 FA Cup and League Cup and the European Cup Winners Cup.

Perri Shakes-Drayton

Perri Shakes-Drayton is the second-fastest Briton of all-time in the women’s 400m hurdles.

Peter Shilton OBE

Former Englisher footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He currently holds the record for playing more games for the England men’s team than anyone else, earning 125 caps, and holds the all-time record for the most competitive appearances in world football – 1,390.

The International Federation of Football History and Statistics ranked Shilton among the top ten goalkeepers of the 20th century in 2000.

Professor Greg Whyte OBE

Greg is 2x Olympian in Modern Pentathlon and world-renowned sports scientist. Greg has made his name training celebrities for Comic Relief Challenges including Jo Brand and David Walliams. Greg is a seasoned key note speaker and has recently swam the length of the Thames raising awareness for drowning prevention RNLI and RLSS.

Ray Wilkins MBE

Ray is a Sky Sports pundit, former England footballer, and former manager at QPR and Fulham FC, who went on to win the Premiership when assistant manager at Chelsea FC. This was one of Ray’s last appearances as he suddenly passed away in 2018.

Ronnie Irani

Ronnie Irani, retired England and Essex cricketer. He was a bristling all-rounder who settled into his role as “Mr Essex” after leaving Lancashire in 1994.

Sarah Winckless

Sarah won a bronze medal in the Double sculls at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and was world champion in 2005 and 2006. She received SportsAid funding when just 18, and told the audience how the huge amount of support she had had throughout her career had helped her achieve her goals. Having retired from competitive rowing in 2009, she continues to give back to sport as the Chair of the British Olympic Association Athletes’ Commission.

Sharron Davies MBE

Sharron Davies occupies a unique position in British life. In an age of increasingly fleeting fame and notoriety, she has been one of the UK’s best known and most popular sportswomen since bursting onto the scene as a 13 year old Olympian in 1976. More than 30 years later she is still a popular, in demand and much-admired character.

Simon Shaw MBE

Simon, a 2003 Rugby World Cup winner and former Wasps star, spoke to the 140 strong audience about his late development into professional rugby at 16, his sporting career and subsequent transition into business after retirement.

Steve Hodge

Steve Hodge is a professional footballer, whose career spans for almost twenty years. He has played for teams such as Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Queens Park Rangers, Leeds United, and Tottenham Hotspur.

He also has honours as League Champion, League Cup Winner, Charity Shield Winner, Under 21 European Champion, FA Cup Finalist and was capped 24 times by England. He played in 2 World Cup Final tournaments, including playing against Argentina in 1986 where his miss-hit back pass to Peter Shilton resulted in Maradona’s famous “Hand of God” goal.

Steve has also worked with Brian Clough, Sir Bobby Robson, Terry Venables, Howard Wilkinson, David Pleat, Gerry Francis, Graham Taylor, and Roy McFarland.

In addition to all of this, Steve has many coaching achievements and other qualifications from Nottingham County Academy, Leicester City Academy, Chesterfield FC Coach, Nottingham Forest Under 14 Coach, and an UEFA ‘A’ License Holder.

Steve Thompson MBE

Steve made his debut for England in the 2002 Six Nations and scored his maiden test try against Italy in the 2003 Six Nations, a tournament which saw England win the Grand Slam. Steve made a significant contribution to England’s southern hemisphere tour in June 2003, playing in both victorious tests against New Zealand and Australia.

Tom Daley

Tony Cottee

Tony Cottee played 712 games and scored 293 goals in a career spanning two decades

He began his career with West Ham United at the  age of 17, going on to play for the club for 6 seasons and become a one of the most prolific goalscorers in English football with them, scoring 92 goals in just over 200 appearances.

He moved to Everton in 1988, for another lengthy 6 season spell, which saw him, etch his name in to Goodison Park history playing 184 games and scoring 72 goals.

In 1994 Tony returned to West ham for a two season spell, followed by transfers to Leicester City, Birmingham City, Norwich, Barnet and Millwall

Since his retirement from the Game, Tony has carved out a career as a well respected Soccer commentator and Pundit, as part of the Sky Sports team, as well as a respected and much sought after dinner speaker.