Grant recepient, Jess Mayho, has been undergoing some tough rehab in her quest to get back to competition. Here she updates us on how she's getting on.

I have just returned back from a 10 day training camp in Vila Nova de Cerviera (1 hour North of Porto). I visited this facility last year with a larger group of athletes and really got on with the coach out there and loved the set up they have created - a throws specific centre with the hotel just opposite.

After the success of last years camp at this facility (I threw my personal best there after 10 days of training) I knew it was a place where I could retreat to and really get a solid block of training done. Heading out there completely on my own was a bit daunting - my Portugese is well erm VERY questionable- but my experience in playing charades I felt would at least help me with the language barrier....

Jorge, the coach at the facility, is one of the Portugese National Throws Coaches and his knowledge of the event is so strong. It was great to be able to have him attend every session and learn so much from him. The 10 days were pretty intense as we really honed in on the technical aspects of the throw but it was the perfect time to be able to do this- not having to worry about sessions taking longer than normal as I didn't have to get back to work.

I have attached some photos for you to see what I got up to out there, the facilities and the group (consisting of Olympic and Paralympic athletes)  that I had the pleasure of training with. 

I am currently 8 weeks into throwing post rehab and Matthew- my coach in the UK - and I are really pleased with what I achieved in the training block out in Portugal  and where I currently am in my training. We are looking forward to implementing the new ideas Jorge gave to us but also consolidating on current training set by Matthew.

In 5 weeks time I will return back to the facility for another 10 days of training which will set me up to open up my season.  With your support you are helping me achieve my dreams, I feel extremely lucky to have these opportunities and I am trying to learn as much as I can  leaving no stone un-turned in the process.

Jess Mayho

Premier League referee and Foundation supporter, Martin Atkinson, is swapping his whistle for wheels this summer as he embarks on an epic 1700 mile cycle from England to Russia for the World Cup.

Martin will be flanked by fellow riders Mike Tomlinson and Darren Clark, for the duration of the ride, and as in 2016, the riders will again be supported by Chris Sanders from 1st Class Events and Barry Phillipson from Smart Therapy Studios, the trio will be joined by other riders throughout their journey, including Atkinson’s fellow professional referee Jon Moss, Jim Butters, who led the 2016 challenge and Mick McGuire from James Grant Sports.

The #WhistleStopTour2018 starts at St. George’s Park on Monday, June 11, and the team will travel through France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Poland before reaching their destination in Kaliningrad 18 days later to watch England face Belgium in their World Cup clash on Thursday, June 28.

The ride is all in the name of charity, with the money raised being split between the St David’s Hospice Care Newport, University Hospitals - Coventry & Warwickshire Charity, Yorkshire Young Achievers Foundation and The Jane Tomlinson Appeal

Atkinson said: “It’s going to be a huge challenge, but it’s one I think we’re all relishing. In 2016 we cycled to all 20 Premier League grounds, which totalled around 1000 miles, so we’re really upping the ante for this one. We’ve been saying it’ll be 18 days of hurt, but it’s all for some brilliant charities, so we’re ready to go through that pain barrier! We want to raise as much money as we possibly can, so any donation, large or small would be gratefully received.”

You can keep up to date with the riders on their official Twitter handle @WhistleStopTour2018 and you can donate here.

Previous winners from down the years were among 400 guests when young people from across the region were honoured at the 25th Yorkshire Young Achievers Awards on 23 November at Leeds United’s Centenary Pavilion.
 
Halifax soprano Lizzie Jones was named Personality of the Year for her tireless campaigning and fundraising for better heart care for sportspeople after the tragic death of her Welsh International Rugby League player husband, Danny, on the pitch.
 
Huddersfield’s Alfie Clark took the Arts Award for his mature performance as Arthur Thomas in Emmerdale in a dementia storyline, which prompted him into fundraising for the Alzheimer’s Society.
 
The Awards, sponsored by McCormicks Solicitors, mark the achievements of young people in eight categories, from the Arts to Sport, and are organised by the Yorkshire Young Achievers Foundation which has now raised more than £1.2m to support young people in Yorkshire.
 
Previous winners among the guests included Gaynor Faye, Kelvin Fletcher, Bailey Matthews and last year’s Youngster of the Year, Lucy Sherman, who performed at the opening reception.
 
The Chairman of the Awards, Peter McCormick OBE, said: “Once again we had some wonderful winners with some truly inspiring stories of courage and determination and it proved a very fitting way to celebrate our 25th anniversary.
 
“These Awards are also our main fundraiser of the year and none of this would be possible without the support of our sponsors and our guests, many of whom have been with us for many years.”
 
For a full line up of winners please click here.

Foundation Vice Chairman, Richard Stroud, visited the Buttershaw Business and Enterprise College in Bradford last week to present a grant from the Yorkshire Young Achievers Foundation. 
 
The Foundation are sponsoring Emma Graham as a teacher for 2 years. Emma is teaching a Year 10 class in the 1300 pupil secondary school. During his visit Richard attended a very creative and successful maths lesson. The Foundation would like to wish Emma every success in her role. 

​Nominations for the 25th Yorkshire Young Achievers Awards opened today with an appeal from the Chairman for entries from across the region to mark the event’s silver anniversary.
 
The Awards, sponsored by McCormicks Solicitors of Harrogate, mark the achievements of outstanding young people aged under 35 from across Yorkshire. To nominate a potential winner, just visit the Awards website at www.yorkshireyoungachievers.co.uk or contact Sonia Jones at McCormicks Solicitors on 01423 530630.
 
Awards Chairman Peter McCormick OBE said: “This is a special year for the Awards and it would be wonderful to see even more nominations from right across Yorkshire. We believe Yorkshire produces some great talent and that our young people have the grit and determination to success, whatever the challenges they face and we want to hear about them!”
 
The Awards are organised by the Yorkshire Young Achievers Foundation and have raised more than £1.2 million to support young people in Yorkshire, with grants made to both individuals and organisations supporting them, including sportspeople, those involved in the arts and disabled youngsters.
 
On hand to launch the 2017 Awards were the 2016 Youngster of the Year, actress Lucy Sherman, and grant recipient Jessica Mayho, a hammer thrower who is training to reach the 2018 Commonwealth Games. 
 
Anyone can nominate a potential winner and the closing date for entries is Friday 15 September. The winners will be announced at the Yorkshire Young Achievers Awards dinner on Thursday 23 November at the Leeds United Centenary Pavilion. Tickets for the dinner are also now on sale

 
Yorkshire’s Olympic and Paralympic medallists, a top-class footballer, a talented actress and a teenager raising awareness of brain injury in sport were among the young people honoured at the 2016 Yorkshire Young Achievers Awards in front of more than 400 guests at Leeds United’s Centenary Pavilion.
 
The medallists were named as joint Personalities of the Year in honour of their impressive performances in Rio, with four attending to receive their awards in person.
 
Sheffield-born Premier League footballer Jamie Vardy was amongst other winners, as well as some less well-known faces, at the 24th Awards, sponsored by McCormicks.
 
Peter McCormick, who is Chairman of the Awards, said: “These young people, from the Olympians to our Unsung Hero, typify the best in Yorkshire and we heard some terrific stories of dedication and grit during the evening. For example, I am sure we will be hearing more about our Youngster of the Year, Lucy Sherman, in years to come!
 
“These Awards are also our main fundraiser of the year and have helped us to raise nearly £1.2m. None of this would be possible without the support of our sponsors and our guests on the night and I thank them very much.”
 
The full line up of winners was:

Personalities of the Year, sponsored by Rudding Park
Yorkshire’s Olympic and Paralympic medalists.
For only the second time in the Awards’ history, the Personality of the Year went to a group, with Yorkshire’s Olympic and Paralympic medalists all being honoured. Attending to receive their awards in person from Peter Banks of sponsors Rudding Park were:

• Adam Duggleby from Hull, who was the sighted pilot for Paralympic cyclist Steve Bate, with the pair winning gold in both the Pursuit and Time Trial and bronze in the Road Race.
• Katy Marchant, also from Leeds, who took bronze in the velodrome in the women’s individual sprint.
• Nile Wilson, also representing Leeds, who became the first Briton to win a gymnastics horizontal bar medal when he took bronze.
• Steve Bate, born and brought up in New Zealand but now Yorkshire-based, the Paralympian who partnered Adam Duggleby to two golds and a bronze.

 
Youngster of the Year, sponsored by DFS Furniture Company
Lucy Sherman, 11, of Leeds
Lucy has achieved remarkable success for someone of her age, two days after the awards completing a year-long tour of the UK and Ireland playing Jemima Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
 
Even with the tour still in progress, she has been rehearsing for her next role in Strictly Ballroom which opened at West Yorkshire Playhouse at the end of November.
 
Achievement in the Arts, sponsored by Barclays
Avigail Collins, originally of Leeds
Avigail is a stylist who has worked with some of the biggest names in show business.
Brought up in North Leeds and Scarcroft, she studied fashion at Leeds College of Art and Design before making the move to London aged 18 to take up a place at a prestigious fashion school.
 
She and her then husband-to-be, Damian Collins, set up their own fashion label and in 2007 the pair got three-month placements in New York, a move which was to prove a major step when they made contact with the head stylist for MTV who was working with a new singer called Rihanna.
 
Since then she has become not only Rihanna’s stylist but has worked with a host of household names, including Pixie Lott, Daisy Lowe, Sam Smith and Tinie Tempah.
In 2012 she and husband Damian launched their own clothing range, Silver Spoon Attire.
 
Achievement in Management and Enterprise, sponsored by The Wetherby Whaler Group
Emily and L-J Keston, originally of Harrogate
 The twins grew up in Harrogate, one of them gaining a degree in journalism while the other achieved the same in law.
 
But their interest in the performing arts has led them along a different path together. As actresses, both have performed professionally, having started their careers in the original West End production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Their television and film credits include appearing as the infamous Jenny and Rosie Dolly in ITV’s Mr Selfridge series, The Safe House, and Bridget Jones and the Edge of Reason.
 
More recently, they became Executive Directors and Producers of their own business, Stagebox, to provide high calibre training in musical theatre for young people aged from seven to 18. Originally launched in Harrogate, Stagebox is now in Leeds and Manchester and has just opened a London base.
 
Achievement in Sport, sponsored by Leeds United Football Club
Jamie Vardy, originally of Sheffield
Jamie was born in Sheffield in 1987 and has been part of one of the greatest sporting achievements in football.
 
He began his senior career with Stocksbridge Park Steels, breaking into the first team in 2007 and spending three seasons before joining Northern Premier League side F.C. Halifax Town in 2010 and then to Conference Premier side Fleetwood Town in 2011. 
In May 2012, he signed for Leicester City in the Championship for a non-League record transfer fee of £1 million, and helped the team win the Championship in 2014. In the 2015–16 Premier League season, he scored in 11 consecutive Premier League matches, breaking Ruud van Nistelrooy's record, and was voted the Premier League Player of the Season and FWA Footballer of the Year as 5000/1 outsiders Leicester won the Premier League title. He made his international debut in June 2015 and was selected for UEFA Euro 2016.
 
Achievement in Education, sponsored by Positive Tax Solutions
Berenice Gilmour of Wetherby
Berenice has made a major change in her life and education has played a key part in achieving her new ambitions.
 
She originally trained as a dancer and ran her own dance school for some time. While trying to work out how to afford a dance costume for her eldest daughter, she found a new passion in life, borrowing her daughter’s own sewing machine and designing and making her first outfit. Friends and family were impressed and more commissions followed. So delighted with her success was she that she turned her attention to the world of fashion and is currently in her third year of a Fashion Degree at Harrogate College.
 
She hit a new high this year when she was crowned Best Student Designer by Bridal Buyer in a ceremony at the Harrogate Bridal Show.
 
Unsung Hero, sponsored by Lunchbox Theatrical Productions
Connor Lynes, 15, of Hull
Connor was aged just one when he lost his devoted dad to a sudden illness and two years later he ended up living with his aunt and his nan when his mum was unable to cope. He then also lost his nan after a short battle with cancer and it affected him badly.
 
He took up Rugby League, proving a talented player, but when he was eight he was hit by a car and suffered multiple fractures to his lower leg, undergoing three operations to repair the damage. He was told he might never play Rugby again but after nine months of gruelling physio he returned to the pitch, being named Clubman of the Year in 2015 for his efforts.
 
However, last year Connor became very ill and it was discovered that a tackle during a game the previous day had torn an artery in his neck, causing a blood clot to travel to his brain leading to a major stroke. Operations to remove the clot were only partially successful and he was finally allowed home six weeks later. Part of the clot remains and Connor spent another week in hospital just before the Awards in a vain bid to remove it.
 
He will never be able to play Rugby again but other young people are benefiting from his fighting spirit and determination and he has now raised more than £5,000 for local charities. So successful was his own social media campaign to raise awareness of brain injury in sport, that most of the Super League teams joined in.
 
Special Award, sponsored by Walsh Taylor
Jon Moss and Martin Atkinson
The Special Award is made to friends and supporters of the Awards who have gone the extra mile to help raise funds to support young people in the region.
 
Premier League referees Jon Moss and Martin Atkinson are both long-term supporters of the Awards and this year decided to do something a bit more challenging to show their
commitment.
 
They took on a nine-day, 1,000-mile cycling tour of every Premier League football club in England and Wales to raise funds for both the Yorkshire Young Achievers Foundation and another Yorkshire charity, the Jane Tomlinson Appeal.
 
They collected cash along the route and fundraising items from the clubs before a triumphant finish at Sunderland as the final club of the tour. The final total from their efforts is expected to be around £20,000.

Premier League referees Jon Moss and Martin Atkinson are taking their pre-season training to the next level as they hit the road to raise funds for the Jane Tomlinson Appeal and the Yorkshire Young Achievers Foundation.

The match officials have launched the Whistle Stop Tour and plan to visit every Premier League football club by bicycle in a nine-day challenge.

The tour begins on Tuesday, July 12 at Watford’s Vicarage Road, finishing nine days later at The Stadium of Light in Sunderland and covering an estimated 1,000 miles along the way.
The referees are aiming to raise £50,000 for the two charities and have already reached the £10,000 mark even before they set off.

The pair will be joined by colleagues from the Premier Game Match Officials (PGMOL) as they pedal to raise funds.

Jon Moss said: “This is a major challenge and we are looking forward to it with some excitement and some trepidation. We really will be seeing the Premier League clubs from a different perspective and we look forward to meeting both club personnel and fans along the way. Our chosen charities are both relatively small but we have seen their work at first hand and what a tremendous job they do and that is why we wanted to raise funds for them.”

The Tour begins with the London clubs, going south to Southampton and AFC Bournemouth before a day-and-a-half journey to South Wales, to visit Swansea City.

Moss and Atkinson will then pass through the Midlands, calling at West Bromwich Albion and Leicester City before heading northwest to Stoke City, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Burnley.

They turn east to cross the breadth of England to go to Hull City, before visiting heading north for Middlesbrough and finishing in Sunderland.

The Chairman of the Yorkshire Young Achievers Foundation, Peter McCormick OBE, said: “This is going to be a terrific event and I cannot thank the members of the PGMOL enough for deciding to help us to support young people in Yorkshire to achieve their full potential. They have supported us and attended the Yorkshire Young Achievers Awards for a number of years and we are delighted they have chosen us!”

Jane Tomlinson Appeal Event Manager Holli Kellett said: “The Whistle Stop Tour is a really exciting event and we are urging everyone to get behind the team and support them on their ride. We are extremely grateful to be one of the charities benefiting from the challenge and the money raised will make a huge difference and help us to continue our support of children’s and cancer charities, we can’t thank the Premier League and the team enough for their continued support.”
​
Please support the Whistle Stop Tour by visiting the fundraising page at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/WhistleStopTour.