Sir Keith Mills Archives

It gives us great pleasure to announce the first two winners of the Vanessa Brown Volunteer Award as Sue Martin and Derek May.

The award was launched this year to celebrate the life of Vanessa Brown – a much loved Sported staff member and friend – who sadly passed away last year.

The winners of the inaugural award were announced on Tuesday night by Sir Keith Mills and Baroness Sue Campbell at a special celebratory dinner for the nominated Sported volunteer mentors at the House of Lords.

All of Sported’s 250 volunteer mentors deserve a huge amount of credit for their passion and dedication, but special congratulations and thanks to Derek and Sue for their outstanding contribution to Sported’s work.

Derek has been a Sported mentor since 2012 and has mentored clubs including Bridgewater Salford ABC, United Estates of Wythenshawe and Wildcard ABC. His ability to articulate and communicate strategic goals and successfully coach those who he works with has delivered huge dividends, as the following testimonial demonstrates.

“The contribution of our mentor Derek has been invaluable – he has a wealth of knowledge and experience and is a fantastic motivator. Derek has helped to clarify our plans, open doors that were previously closed to us and made invaluable introductions. Derek has been a God send in more ways than one. He has been our missing piece of the jigsaw, providing clarity to our vision, boosting our morale and strengthening our motivation levels. Derek has certainly lent us new found energy and direction”

Sue has mentored numerous Sported members in the North East. Her experience working in the community sector has made her acutely aware of the sustainability and funding challenges faced by our members and is expertly placed to guide them through them.

“I genuinely feel Asian Business Connexions is in a better place all because of Sue. I do not think that paid expertise could have made a better or bigger impact, and the fact that Sue unreservedly took the time to help ABC must be worthy of recognition. If anyone deserves an award for giving away their valuable time voluntarily, then there is no one more suited than Sue Martin.”

Once again, many congratulations to Derek and Sue for their success at this year’s award, and a special thanks to those who were nominated – Amanda McDonald, Anas Hassan, Clive Barnard, Frank McGlone, John Horton, Maggie Pankhurst, Martin Briggs, Martin Corck, Neil Rutherford and Peter Lodge. Finally, thanks to all of Sported’s mentors who, because of your fantastic work, made the judging and shortlisting process such a difficult, but rewarding process!

We are delighted to share the news that Sported’s founder and chairman, Sir Keith Mills, was awarded the Barclays Lifetime Achievement Award at the prestigious BT Sport Industry Awards last night, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to UK sport.

In front of a star-studded audience, Sir Keith was presented with his award by close friends Lord Coe and Sir Ben Ainslie.

Having made his name in business, founding Air Miles International and Chairing the Loyalty Management Group Ltd, Sir Keith has gone on to become a leading figure in UK sport. None more so than in September 2003, when he was appointed International President and CEO of London 2012 – the company that successfully won the bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Sir Keith remained central to London 2012’s success in his role as Deputy Chairman of LOCOG, working alongside Lord Sebastian Coe to deliver what was widely recognised as one of the best ever Olympic and Paralympic Games.

His commitment to deliver a lasting legacy from London 2012 endures to this day through the work of his foundation, Sported. The charity has grown considerably since Sir Keith founded it in 2008 and as many of our 3,000 members will attest, thanks to Sported’s support some of the most disadvantaged young people in the UK are being given new opportunities to overcome their personal challenges and turn their lives around.

Sir Keith was also former Chair of International Inspiration – the official international sports legacy programme of London 2012 and since 2005 has worked with 25 million children around the world.

As Sported goes from strength-to-strength, Sir Keith’s drive and ambition also shows no signs of abating. In 2014 Sir Keith became Chairman of the Invictus Games, working with Prince Harry to deliver a new major international sport event for wounded servicemen and women. Whilst this July, he will be found on the coast of Portsmouth, cheering on Ben Ainslie Racing as America’s Cup racing returns to British waters for the first time in 164 years.

On the latest accolade for Sir Keith, Chris Grant, Chief Executive of Sported, comments, “Never was an award better deserved. As architect of London 2012, Sir Keith changed the face of sport. As the founder of Sported, he has strengthened sport’s heart and extended its reach into previously marginalised communities across the UK. Along with our hundreds of brilliant volunteer mentors and thousands of inspiring member clubs, we’re proud to be part of a movement, which is bringing Sir Keith’s vision to life, and putting sport at the forefront of community development.”