Local Athlete

Athleteleapsinwithsupportfor newplayarea

Atriple jumping athlete from Newcastle has helped to officially open abrand new play area at aschool.

The Glebe Academy in Fenton was in urgent need of expansion and upgrading, and now the school’s dream has come true thanks to a £24,000 donation from JCB, which funded the installation of a330 square metre artificial grassed surface.

The new play area was recently officially opened by JCB-sponsored athletes, slalom canoeist Adam Burgess, aged 28 of Stone, and triple jumper Ben Williams, aged 29 of Newcastle, who stageda special PE lesson for pupils to mark the unveiling.

The pair took abreak from training from the summer games in Tokyo to put youngsters through theirpaces after cutting aribbon at the opening ceremony.

Glebe Academy Principal Suzanne OakesSmith said: “As the school sits in the lowest two per cent of deprivation in the country, with many of our pupils having no gardens or access to outdoor space,being able to provide this new area at the school is extremely significant. “Our limited outdoor space has always been ahuge challenge, so theJCB donation has turned adream into areality.A project of this size would have beenout of the reachofthe school and this work will benefit us for years to come. “We are thrilled and very thankful to JCB and Lord Bamford for making this happen. It’s also come at just the right time as it gives our children asafe outdoor space and enables us to meet the social distancing needs of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

JCB Chairman Lord Bamford: “I’mdelighted to support the Glebe Academy with this initiative because it’s so important that children have access to safe outdoor spaces.”

Ben is Britain’s leading triple jumper. He was crowned British Triple Jump Champion in 2019 with alifetime best jump of 17.27 metres – almost the length of adouble decker bus.

Ben added: “We had agreat morning with the Glebe Academy and hopefully we’ve managed to passonour love of sport and the fun you can have in keepingfit during the PE lesson.”

Both athletes are sponsored by JCB to help in their preparations for the summer games.

Adam started canoeing at theage of ten on the River Trent in his home town of Stone and has been competing internationally for Great Britain and winning medals since the age of 14.

He said: “We had great fun taking the PE lesson with the pupils on the new JCB play area. “Fitness and exercise has been an integral part of my life since childhood and Ireally appreciate the importance of children having somewhere safe to exercise and run around.”