We hope you didn’t miss the action out in Milano Cortina, as the Winter Paralympians ‘sent it’ as our very own Athlete Mentor, Anna Turney would say! As a two-time Winter Paralympic Athlete – we thought there is no better person than Anna to share her thoughts on the action and her experiences and memories of when she competed. So, sit back, switch on some highlights from the Games and enjoy this blog from Anna.

A high energy trio of AQA Unlocking Potential mid-point events took place in Milton Keynes, Reading and Manchester recently as students from different parts of the country took part in a Dame Kelly Holmes Trust style Dragon’s Den to pitch their social action projects.  

To mark International Women’s Day, we decided to sit-down with Ruth Mwandumba to discuss all things motherhood, working full-time and being a professional athlete.  

For Alyvia, a 12-year-old at King Ethelbert School in Kent our Enhanced On Track to Achieve (OTTA) programme, funded by the Lawson Trust, with athlete mentor Claire Bennett represented a shift in resilience, trying out new sports and increased confidence. The programme features one-to-one mentoring as well as our standard OTTA group sessions, offering young people the opportunity to go into greater depth with our athlete mentors on their own personal development plans, teamed with the essential teamwork and collaboration of the group sessions. 

Dame Kelly Holmes Trust and Sanctuary Supported Living are marking the fifth year of their partnership, continuing a shared commitment to supporting young people to build confidence, resilience and wellbeing through the Trust’s bespoke Get on Track programme.

Students at Folkestone Academy found the On Track to Achieve programme, funded by Virtual Schools South Kent, and working with former Commonwealth Gold medallist fencer, and Trust Athlete Mentor, Claire Bennett a catalyst to improved stability and behaviour in school.  

With another academic year upon us, we’ve had a brilliant few weeks launching the AQA Unlocking Potential programme, now in its 15^th year, and final year of our fantastic partnership with education charity, AQA.   

Dame Kelly Holmes Trust programmes puts world class athletes shoulder to shoulder with young people, equipping them with a winning mindset and shaping their futures – and for Amalie at Cambourne College, our AQA Unlocking Potential programme, in partnership with AQA, offered her an inspirational role model in her athlete mentor and improved her confidence.  

At Dame Kelly Holmes Trust we know that the best way to understand the impact of our programmes on young people is to see it in real life! As such, we encourage our whole team to visit programmes whenever they can. Senior Income Generation Manager, Kellie Ormond joined the team in September and was excited to visit the AQA Unlocking Potential launch event in Milton Keynes recently.  

Dame Kelly Holmes Trust is thrilled to announce its partnership with St George’s Hospital, as the charity continues to expand its transformational one-to-one mentoring programme for young people.

Aleksander’s Story Boosting confidence and encouraging teamwork: over the course of the On Track to Achieve programme at the Winstanley School in Leicester, Aleksander’s confidence grew as he became an integral part of the group. We caught up with him to hear about his experience working with athlete mentor, Kelvin.

St Edwards School, Montpelier High School, Lutterworth and Kingsbury Academy students all delivered exceptional social action projects which benefited their local communities - find out more today.

After launching the One-to-One Mentoring Programme, funded by Sport England, at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust  earlier in 2025, Lexie has been one of the first patients to work with our world class athlete mentors. Read more about her story.

Thanks to Deloitte’s 5 Million Futures initiative we were able to work with them to support local young people in Nottingham. Find out more about how impact stretched over three years.

In our third instalment of our Social Action Project spotlight articles we look back at how Wymondham College and Bourne Academy impacted their local community.

Chatham Grammar and Kings Leadership are our next Social Action Project spotlight. Find out what these schools in Kent and Manchester did to make a difference in their local community.

Students and teachers from the 30 schools from across the UK, participating in AQA Unlocking Potential were invited to join their athlete mentors at London Zoo for a celebration of their achievements.

Across the UK, schools have been busy delivering their social action projects. In the first article of our summer series will look at what Nicholas Chamberlaine and Sir Thomas Boughey got up to.

Annie Moody will become Dame Kelly Holmes Trust interim CEO following Martin Talbot’s departure on the 11th July.

We sat down with CEO of Lazarus & Maverick, Alex Lazarus to discuss the blossoming partnership between her global leadership coaching and advisory firm and Dame Kelly Holmes Trust.

12-year-old Naomi suffers from a rare skin condition Epidermolysis Bullosa Simplex (EB), which causes her feet to blister as the skin is missing essential proteins which bind the layers of the skin together. She took part in our one-to-one mentoring programme with athlete mentor Gabby Marshall, find out more about her story.

Participants on a Get on Track programme in Kent recently completed a scavenger hunt around Gillingham to test their local knowledge, encourage them to work on their English language skills and to mark the end of what has been a fantastic programme. 

Head of Income Generation and Fundraising, Annie Moody went to visit Montpelier High School to see how their On Track to Achieve programme with athlete mentor, Liz Johnson has been going.

The Get on Track programme with partners Sanctuary Supported Living concluded with celebration events for the Brighton and Essex cohort.

Working with Govia Thameslink Railway and West Sussex County Council, athlete mentors Liz Johnson, Hannah Beharry and Sarah Ayton have been helping young people in the area, find out more about this fantastic partnership.

Saphffire’s life story has been one of resilience which has seen them overcome many obstacles. Linking up with athlete mentor Claire Bennett on a recent Get on Track programme saw Saphffire reach for the stars.

Our partnership with Obex Foundation continues to grow as funding secured for a seventh school.

The AQA Unlocking Potential programme has reached it’s halfway stage as students from across the UK presented their social action projects.

The Evolve to Thrive programme recently launched with an in-person get together in Birmingham.

Working with Virtual Schools Kent (VSK) and Swale Community Leisure, a recently launched Get on Track programme in Medway has started spectacularly.