LocalAthlete

Anathlete from Stone has helped to officially open abrand new play area at aschool in the city.

The Glebe Academy in Fenton was in urgent needofexpansion 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 officiallyopened by JCBsponsored athletes, slalom canoeist Adam Burgess, aged 28 of Stone, and triple jumper Ben Williams, aged 29 of Newcastle, who stagedaspecial PE lesson for pupils to mark the unveiling.

The pair took abreak from training for the summer gamesin Tokyo to put youngsters through their paces after cutting aribbon at the opening ceremony.

Glebe Academy Principal Suzanne Oakes-Smith 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 ahugechallenge, so the JCB donation has turned a dream into areality. Aprojectof this size would have been out of the reach of the 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 justthe right time as it gives our children asafe outdoor space and enablesusto meet the social distancing needs of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

JCB Chairman Lord Bamford: “I’m delightedtosupport the Glebe Academy with this initiative because it’sso important that children have access to safe outdoor spaces.”

Adam started canoeing at the age of ten on the River Trent in his home town of Stone and has beencompeting 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 partofmylife since childhood and Ireally appreciate the importance of children having somewhere safetoexerciseand run around.”

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

Ben added: “We had agreat morning with the Glebe Academy and hopefully we’ve managed to pass on our love of sportand the fun you can have in keeping fit during the PE lesson.”

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

North Staffordshire sports stars Ben Williams (left) and Adam Burgess put Glebe Academy pupils through their paces after the official openingof the new playground