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30/07/2009 News! First Harnessing Talent Club well received!

Wednesday 8th July saw the official launch of DHK Legacy Trust's National Support Programme for retired/retiring elite sports performers with our first Harnessing Talent Club at Loughborough College.

As a result of its interactive nature and the calibre of the speakers that presented, the day was well received by the sports performers in attendance. Anna Hemmings, 6 times World Canoeing Champion said it was “a great and very useful day. Mainly I've been inspired to go away and take action and implement my ideas. I got some very useful tips on interview techniques and CVs.” Another sports performer commented, “I learnt a lot!! - The way I view / think about interviews, my CV structure, my business approach”.

Similarly to our national conference in Leeds, back in March it pulled together top-notch - “extremely interesting...inspiring and knowledgeable” speakers to lead the business focussed sessions. Jane Johnstone from Perfectly Happy People and Chris Lomas a Dragon's Den entrepreneur headed up Taking your idea to market – from concept to delivery, an interactive session in which  harnessing talent athletes learnt how to 'pitch' their ideas, as well as sourcing who or what they need to make their idea a success.

Presenting yourself to market was led by Russell Yeomans founder and CEO of Sport2Business a career management company for elite professional athletes looking to prepare for and advance their careers after leaving competitive sport; and Alan Rapley, Business Consultant and Chair of our emerging Performer Steering Group which we will start recruiting for in August. One sports performer said “The information that Sport2Business provided was really useful. If I have any interviews or job applications coming up then I will definitely be contacting them!”

A Next Steps session, which will form part of each Harnessing Talent Club ran in the morning and gave performers the opportunity to meet with the DKHLT team to discuss and develop their personal development plans. Jenna Downing, World Champion in Extreme In-Line Skating said “It was good to dig deeper into our thoughts and discover our values”. Sports performers were also given the opportunity to meet with the business professionals on a one to one basis.

Alan Rapley and Emma Atkins, Sport Director of the Trust who designed the content of the event, took this opportunity to present the DKH Legacy Trust Sports Performers Agreement to the athletes which was pulled together with a number of harnessing talent athletes as well as Dame Kelly Holmes herself. This agreement was well received by the athletes there who were keen to give back in any way they could in return for access to services the Trust provides. This agreement will be sent out to all performers that we work with next week for you to comment and sign up as appropriate.

“What happens to sports people after retirement, having struggled myself for so long, is a subject close to my heart, I’d be honoured and very happy to say that I’ll be supporting the DKH Legacy Trust wherever possible into the future.” - Toby Box, Commonwealth Bronze medallist in Athletics.

The next Harnessing Talent Clubs will be held in London in October and Sheffield in December.

Find out more about our Harnessing Talent work and how it is making a difference to sports performers by clicking here.

If you want to find out more about the DKHLT National Support Programme for performers click here.