Herts 2012 Manager

 

Tortola working with school students

 

I am the Herts 2012 Manager and work with a small team of people on behalf of the Hertfordshire is Ready For Winners Partnership ensuring that the communities of Hertfordshire share the excitement of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It’s a fantastic job as I get to meet people from local companies, volunteer groups, schools and athletes as well as spending time with athletes and Olympic officials from all around the world.

Art Masterclasses with Tortola

The area of work I think I have enjoyed most has been working with the 600 schools in the county. The enthusiasm and innovation among students of all ages has been a thrill to be part of and being able to introduce young people at school here to an artist and musician from Tortola in the British Virgin Islands was a fantastic experience as he held art master-classes and gave live performances of his unique BVI folk/reggae compositions.

Healthy school dinners

We have also been spreading the healthy lifestyle message to all our young people including an outstanding school dinners project which gave students at over 450 schools the chance to learn about international gold medal winners, their nutritional requirements, unique culture and, best of all, sample their traditional foods from across the globe

I am reading…

Literature also plays a part in ensuring we maintain a healthy lifestyle, with reading playing an important part in relaxing and diffusing the stresses of the day, whatever they may be. Although time is very limited, especially at the moment as the Olympics start in just over 1 month, I try and make sure I read even a few pages every day and my current favourite author is Richard North Patterson who uses fantastic narrative and flashbacks to weave intricate plots within a range of political and crime thrillers with my favourite work of his being Degree of Guilt which had me enthralled from beginning to end. Not dissimilar in subject matter is my current read – Michael Connelly’s The Poet which is a departure from his normal lawyer and homicide cop tales, this time focussing on a newspaper reporter as his central character a great read never-the-less! My other great joy is reading to my 3 year old grandson and for the record, his current favourite is Harry and the Dinosaurs have a Happy Birthday by Ian Whybrow!

This article was taken from What’s New @ Herts Libraries July 2012