"Thanks again for your help in making Friday's seminar a real success. Your involvement and energy was really inspirational."
Answer
We were all speakers at the Learn To Swim Instructors' seminar in Crawley on 20th February.
This joint venture from the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) and Southern Water is designed to inspire ASA coaches and improve the level of coaching.
It's part of the work I do for Southern Water, who are committed to improving the health of their staff and their customers.
We don't have dedicated facilities at our HQ so we decided to arrange fitness sessions and asked Chris to work with us as our expert.
It is a commitment for us to provide a space for the sessions and to give our staff the time to attend. And it's a challenge for Chris to devise something that will meet the needs of a very diverse group of staff of all ages, shapes and fitness levels.
But Chris has pulled it off. Always professional, he is endlessly encouraging and informative and our staff are achieving levels of fitness they probably thought impossible. That can only be good news for them and for our business.
We are delighted to have Chris as our well-being partner and would happily recommend him to any company serious about the well-being of its staff.
I used my slot to drive home my fitness philosophy - Be Fit. Be Strong. Be Alive. And to talk about emotional energy and wellbeing.
Then it was time for me to get the 160 delegates on their feet and moving. Before they knew it, they were joining in a gentle mobility session and then exercising with balloons to encourage movement through games and play.
And once they'd got their breath back they had the chance to quiz Duncan, Hilary and me.
This was my first event for the ASA and it was a great experience.
It helped me reach a wider audience, sharing my fitness philosophy with the ASA coaches and through them with young swimmers.
I wanted to make them aware of the influence they have.
And I wanted to reinforce something I believe so strongly; that exercise comes in many shapes and forms and can be - and should be - fun for people of all abilities and fitness levels.
What my clients say
Southern Water believes strongly in improving the well-being of our staff. Our main objective is to deliver greater efficiency, but we also hope that people's improved fitness will benefit them 24/7 too.
It was great having Chris on the team for this event. He helped make it a real success.
His involvement, expertise and enthusiasm were inspirational.
Russell Baker, Southern Water
Sarah Porter, Amateur Swimming Association