We are asking our 100 runners to raise a minimum of £1000 for the Tony Blair Sports Foundation for the iconic event on Sunday October 5th.

And to get our team off to a flying start, Tony Blair himself will be the first name on each of our runner’s sponsorship forms – he has agreed to sponsor all 100 runners the first £500.

Join our Team 100

Working with our partners, Lifestyle Fitness, we will support you from start to finish and in return for your commitment and dedication you will receive a great Team 100 running package which includes:

• Exclusive on-line training diary and fitness programme
• Personal training help from Lifestyle Fitness Academy Trainers
• 5 months free membership at a Lifestyle Fitness club
• Free pedometer
• Free water bottle
• Free race t-shirt
• Entry into competition to join VIPs on the day of the run

More on the Great North Run

Nineteen teachers, drawn from 15 schools were put through their paces at Sedgefield Community College by triple world rowing champion Tom Kay.

Kay, a Master instructor with Concept2, the world's largest distributor of rowing machines, is overseeing the introduction of the activity into all 31 School Sports Partnerships in the North East. The aim is to eventually involve 70,000 children in more than 250 schools.

Tom Kay said:

Today's group are the pioneers for the project. We've been training them to deliver indoor rowing to children as a safe, healthy activity. It is about getting fit and having fun.

The project was launched in the Sedgefield School Sports Partnership and Partnership Development Manager, Di Snowsill, who organised the training day commented:

There is a real feeling that this is the start of something big. The children really relate to the challenge of indoor rowing and the teachers have all enjoyed the insight Tom has given them.

Jeanette Pickard, Chief Executive of the Tony Blair Sports Foundation, summed up:

It's exciting to see our plans starting to come to fruition. The beauty of this programme is that it creates a volunteer culture.

In addition to the coaching roles the teachers undertake, Concept2 can train parents to assist them, or work with employees of local companies who wish to give something back to their local communities.

A letter to hundreds of schools, written by the chief executive of the Tony Blair Sports Foundation and Jo Cunliffe, the tennis development manager at the Lawn Tennis Association, urges children to take part in the competition and hone their tennis skills.

It will use the ‘mini red’ format familiar to schools, will be easy to run and doesn’t require much space or equipment.

Volunteers from the Tony Blair Sports Foundation and the LTA’s Northumberland and Durham & Cleveland Tennis Team will be working together to organise and run the competition and will be assisting schools who take part, ensuring that it doesn’t become a burden to teachers. The Foundation  will also be able to help schools who don’t have enough equipment or space to ensure that their pupils don’t miss out.

The competition is one of the main focuses of the Foundation , and is designed  to encourage more youngsters to take up the sport and play regularly. Providing more opportunities for juniors to compete is key to developing British tennis and the organisers hope to encourage hundreds of children in the area to take part.

The initiative was welcomed by tennis great Greg Rusedski, also an  LTA Talent Ambassador, who said: “Competition is so important for young players as they learn to adapt their game and it helps them to develop a healthy, competitive spirit. It is fantastic that through the Tony Blair Sports Foundation, the youngsters of the North East will have more opportunities to compete and hopefully we will see more young talent emerging and more juniors playing regularly.”

Schools who would like to take part in the 2008 Tony Blair tennis competition should contact the Tony Blair Sports Foundation here, putting 'Tennis competition' in the subject field.

Read more:

Blair backs rising tennis stars

Get involved

One of the main focuses of the new Foundation will be to run an annual competition for school children in the region to encourage more youngsters to take up the sport and play regularly. Providing more opportunities for juniors to compete is key to developing British tennis and there is the potential for hundreds of children in the area to take part.

Roger Draper announced the news of the competition at the launch of the charity this morning. He said: “Next year will see the first annual Tony Blair Tennis Tournament and we hope it will be the start of something that continues to grow.

“Increasing the number of competitions for young players is so important if we are going to develop tennis in this country and find more stars of the future. Having the support of the foundation will be a huge boost and will create a great buzz around tennis in the area.”

Schools who would like to take part in the 2008 Tony Blair Tennis Competition should register their interest here.

Members of the public who would like to become trained to help run the Competition or become a tennis coaching assistant or tennis coach should contact us here.

Mr Blair explained that the model for the foundation was to encourage adults to train up as coaches so they are in a position to encourage children to take up sport.

"We did some research and what came back very strongly was the absence of required number of adults to go and coach."

"The foundation is all about giving kids access to sport. What you find is they get right into it. The idea is to make sure that at as early an age as possible, young kids will get a liking for sport that will stick with them for the rest of their lives."

Read the full interview here.

Picture copyright: Reuters

Concept2, key delivery partners in the indoor rowing element of the Foundation’s activities, are underwriting the programme in the Sedgefield School Sports Partnership.

The programme uses indoor rowing to promote the benefits of regular physical activity. Teachers will be coached by Concept2 Master Instructors, and given access to specially developed lesson plans, featuring a complementary healthy eating project.

Diane Snowsill, Partnership Development Manager of the Sedgefield SSP, said: “This is fantastic for us. We have been aware of the benefits of indoor rowing for some time, but have previously been unable to find funding.

“The work of the Tony Blair Foundation, and Concept2, will enable us to engage children and, in the longer term, other members of the community.”

Tom Kay, the triple world rowing champion who is Concept2’s Head of Education, added: “We’ve got a real chance to touch those pupils who are not turned on by traditional physical education – I was once one myself. Indoor rowing builds fitness, and healthy habits. It’s also a whole lot of fun.”

Sedgefield Community College will be the hub of the programme, which will also involve seven local primary schools. These are:

• Sedgefield Primary
• Sedgefield Hardwick Primary
• Fishburn Primary
• Trimdon Junior School
• St Williams Roman Catholic Primary school
• Bishop Middleham Primary School
• West Cornforth Primary school

The Foundation’s Champions’ Challenge will be rolled out to all 31 School Sports Partnerships in the North East. Volunteers will also be trained to coach within schools, and sponsoring companies have the opportunity to participate in a Workplace Health scheme.

The Tony Blair Sports Foundation is offering partners an opportunity to align themselves to a unique Wellbeing programme, aimed at schoolchildren and increasingly sedentary workforces.

The Foundation’s Champions’ Challenge will link the local business community with the 30 School Sports Partnerships in the North East.

Local companies have the opportunity to sponsor an holistic programme, which will be implemented in Specialist Sports Colleges and their satellite groups of primary schools.

This programme uses indoor rowing to promote the benefits of regular physical activity amongst children and young people. Teachers are coached by Concept 2 Master Instructors, and given access to specially developed lesson plans, featuring a complementary healthy eating programme.

Sponsoring companies will also have the opportunity to participate in a Workplace Health scheme, in which indoor rowing machines are placed in participating offices or factories.

Concept 2, the world’s biggest distributors of rowing machines, will train volunteers to coach within schools, through a Workplace Champions initiative. Competition, through online Workplace Leagues, will be encouraged.

This fulfils one of the founding aims of the Tony Blair Sports Foundation, to be a catalyst for the recruitment of a new generation of community-focussed coaches in four sports – indoor rowing, athletics, tennis and football.

If you would be interested in supporting a group of schools take part, please contact us here [link to contact page]