Olympian Daley Thompson races to County Durham to host fitness day and support children’s charity

Double Olympic Decathlon champion, Daley Thompson CBE, has been in County Durham to put staff from local businesses through their paces at a health and fitness day, as part of his support for North East international children’s charity, Comrades of Children Overseas (COCO).

The decathlon legend joined 15 staff from Gateshead based HR and payroll company Cintra and fellow Tyneside firm Prospect Engine for a fitness session at Ramside Hall Hotel, Golf and Spa near Durham, where he led a workout and offered fitness advice with the aim of improving health in the workplace.

Daley, a friend of fellow Olympic athlete Steve Cram who is one of COCO’s founders, donated a day of his time as an auction prize at both the 2018 COCO Golf Day and the 2018 COCO Ball, while Ramside Hall donated access to their fitness suite as well as lunch and spa access. Cintra and luxury short-stay apartment company, Properties Unique, were the lucky prize winners, with the latter choosing to donate it to staff from Prospect Engine and their clients.

Commenting on the fitness day, Daley, who won decathlon gold medals at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984 and broke the world record in the event four times, said: “I enjoy meeting new people and seeing what level of fitness they have and pushing them close to their limit without pushing them over it. The staff from Cintra and Prospect Engine gave it their all and it was a pleasure to put them through their paces while supporting COCO.”

Tim Boyd, General Manager at Ramside Hall Hotel, Golf and Spa, said: “Ramside Hall Hotel, Golf and Spa were delighted to be able to support such a fantastic charity and to welcome Daley Thompson. We’re very proud of our fitness facilities at the hotel and that we’ve now got the gold medal seal of approval!

“We hope everyone involved had a brilliant day and we’re sure they got some
invaluable help and advice from one of our greatest sporting stars.”

The winners also received a year’s supply of protein drinks and bars, courtesy of Gary Barnshaw of D10.

Lysa Morrison, Director of Transformation from Cintra, who took part in the fitness day, commented: “It’s was an absolutely brilliant day from start to finish. I’m no fitness fanatic but the chance to train with a sporting legend like Daley Thompson was an opportunity not to be missed. It’s been such great fun and the fact that it’s also benefitting a great charity is the icing on the cake, although I had to go for a lie down afterwards!”

COCO was co-founded by Steve Cram and British Army Major Jim Panton in 2000. The charity works with communities in remote regions of the developing world that provide children with access to the education that is essential for a good start in life, investing in small, sustainable, community led initiatives that can make a big difference at a local level.  Key projects include the Schools for Life programme which has now enabled 2,940 young people to access sustainable education in a safe environment.  The charity has now supported 50 transformational projects in 16 countries in total, positively impacting the lives of over 200,000 people.

To find out more about the work of COCO visit www.coco.org.uk, find the charity on Facebook or follow @COCO_Charity on Twitter.