Michael's Blog: Life at Altitude

Our latest guest post from Michael Jamieson, sees his life scaling new heights...

I’m currently in Sierra Nevada – a mountain range in Andalusia in the south of Spain. This is the final block of training before a short rest period and competition at the British Open Champs next month.  There are 10 swimmers here, with a support team, training at 2,300m above sea level. It’s a popular training centre for swimmers and is busy at the moment. My former coach, Fred Vergnoux, is here with his group from Barcelona as well as teams from Slovenia, Ukraine and Italy. Sierra Nevada is a popular ski resort, unfortunately not something I can engage in due to the injury risk…sledging will have to suffice! :)

Training at altitude helps promote an accelerated production of red blood cells in your system due to the smaller concentration of oxygen in the air. Basically, it means that the most trivial of tasks, including brushing your teeth, can leave you out of breath! Its tough going but I’m a big believer in hypoxic training and the positive effect it can have on your fitness levels and this is a continuation of my training after sleeping in an altitude tent in the lead up to the Olympic Games.

Training camps are one of the best parts of an athlete’s life. It provides the opportunity to do some high intensity training with the time to recover and concentrate on areas of weakness etc…and there’s plenty of time to catch up on tv shows, movies, reading…and sledging!

I spent my weekend off sledging and walking to the mountain top, 3,000m above sea level! The weather changes are surreal and the snow must be four feet deep – you’re never too old for a snowball fight!

I’ve just recently met with my coach about the plan for the coming months, identify areas of my program that need improvement/maintained etc and the camps and competitions that we’ll do in the lead up to the Trials and (hopefully) the World Championships in July this year. It looks great and I’m confident about producing some good results this season, although the competition is greater than ever. There are a number of young Brits closing the gap and there’s no doubt I’ll have to improve on my times from last season in order to firstly qualify, and then go on to challenge for honours in Barcelona in the summer. I still have the same emotional responses to these challenges this year as I did last, which is comforting as it shows my motivation is still as strong as ever. My life has changed since the Games and I owe a huge part of that to the people reading this, but I’m still the same athlete and I want to add to last year’s success.

Time to relax now; get ready for a tough session tomorrow morning and console my roommate after his team (Arsenal) were just beaten in the Champions League…I think I can see some tears!! :)

Thank you for your continued support :)

And thank you Michael for your latest guest blog! It's seems incredible that this time last year we were gearing up to watch you swim in the Team GB Olympic trials. I'm sure you'll continue to do us all proud here at Smiths News in the coming months :)

The Consortium Are Go

The Consortium Charity Team have hit 2013 running with their latest fundraising event. Holly Cresswell-Jeal reports:

"This is our first event in our charity calendar raising money for our new nominated charity for 2013 - West Wiltshire Special Needs Activity Scheme. One of our suppliers was kind enough to donate a LCD 50” TV!! So we decided to raffle it off along with a number of runners-up prizes such as chocolates and wine."

The raffle ran for 2 weeks in Trowbridge and Shrewsbury with the draw taking place on Wednesday 13^th February.

"We managed to raise a whopping £460 which is a great start to our fundraising year. The charity was nominated by a number of our Warehouse staff as a local charity in need of our support. David Stanley within the Marketing Team at Trowbridge won the TV.

Thanks to everyone who bought a ticket and helped raise money."

Another Fundraiser for Rowan House

We have another fundraiser here at Rowan House. Graham Willis will be running the Bath Half Marathon on 3^rd March.

Whilst Graham's already raised £135 via his JustGiving page,  I'm sure some further donations will help him train through the darkness and everything the weather throws at him at this time of the year. He's fundraising for the National Autistic Society to thank them for all their support since his daughter Amara was diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

We'll catching up in Dispatches with everyone in training in a few weeks or so to see how it's going.

From a Waste of Space to a Place for Play

Emma Young of West Mercia Supplies (now part of The Consortium) has been in touch to tell us about her recent use of Volunteer Time. Her village (Wheaton Aston in Staffordshire) decided to unlock an unused public space and convert it into a play area.  A grant from Community Spaces (part of the Big Lottery Fund) helped them to realise the project.

Emma takes up the story...

"I originally got involved in this project in the Autumn of 2011.  The favoured idea that came out of the [village] consultation was to open the space as a play area, but one that did not have traditional play equipment.  In the past the space was used in this way and suffered vandalism, hence the reason it had fallen into disuse for the best part of a decade .

[caption id="attachment_4710" align="alignleft" width="640"] The village's open space before the transformation...[/caption]

The space is part owned and managed by the Parish Council and part leased from South Staffs Council on condition that it remains an open public space, with provision for a play area.

Wheaton Aston Play Strategy Group, working with the local community, wanted to reopen the site as a nature space with a play area, which would be attractive to families with young children. It would comprise:

• seasonal shallow pond/marshland with very gently sloping edges


• wet grassland - sand beach and paddling pool


• boulders


• climbing logs


• live willow igloo


• bee, bird and bat boxes


• woodland edge habitat (mostly already present)


• boardwalk over the wetland


• bound gravel path around one side of the wetland


• security fence around the site


• toddler proof latch on the gate and appropriate safety signs."

[caption id="attachment_4717" align="alignright" width="640"] After all the hard work - what a difference![/caption]

Emma's main involvement was pulling together the grant application, which was in 2 stages.  The first stage was an outline proposal for Community Spaces to initially assess the potential project and made sure it met their funding requirements.  Stage 2 was a more in-depth submission which required plans, cost estimates, setting of outcomes, assessment of the site and issues affecting it, timelines and milestones.  With assistance from other project team members, she pulled the documents together and the team were delighted to be awarded the full grant in January 2012.

Emma continued as the project administrator, as Community Spaces require progress reports and grant claims to be submitted.  The final report has just been drafted.

Emma adds, "It is interesting for someone who works in procurement to have to sit on the other side of the fence and actually pull together a bid for something!  2 other smaller grants were awarded to us from local organisations raising a further £1,500 and the council has contributed approximately £10,000.

I also got my hands dirty, helping to plant trees and wetland plants (on a cold, but thankfully dry day) in December and barrowing bark chips to the site from the entrance.

[caption id="attachment_4713" align="alignright" width="173"] The new entrance sign[/caption]

The project is now pretty much complete, with the opening date set for 27th April.  This should allow the new turf, trees, shrubs and wetland plants to start getting established before the site is fully opened.

I am very proud of what the group has been able to deliver as the site has been utterly transformed and look forward to seeing it mature over the next few years.  I very much hope that Broadholes Lane Nature Garden [the site's new name] will become a much-loved and used asset for our village.

Just the cake baking for the launch day to go!"

Thanks very much Emma - it looks a wonderfully transformed new space! It's also interesting to get your insight into the Lottery funding process and to see what's involved. Whilst grant applications to Community Spaces have now closed, there are other community funding options available under the Big Lottery Fund umbrella which other Smiths News employees may wish to explore. I know that matched funding from other organisations and/or a significant number of volunteer hours are important factors in ensuring success with an application.

...And We're Off!

We have our first fundraising news of 2013! And our two fundraisers have completely different ways of going about it.

Terri Baylis (Rowan House) is trekking 25 miles over two days on first weekend in July ( 6^th & 7^th ) in support of her friend's son. Joshua is 4 years old and is currently battling Rhabdoid Tumour, a rare and aggressive form of children's cancer. Terri will be trekking along the scenic  Jurassic Coast from west to east starting at Durlston Head and ending at Durdle Door in aid of the children's cancer charity CLIC. More details are on her JustGiving page.

Tim Stone (Bertrams) lost his mum to Cancer last October and has decided to run a "dryathlon" (i.e. give up alcohol) in January to raise some money in her memory for Cancer Research UK. He set himself a target of £100 - and he’s passed that already! However, looking at his diary on his JustGiving page, he needs your support to  get him through the rest of January...

Between them Terri and Tim have raised nearly £375 so far - a great start to year!

A New Year Message From Michael Jamieson

I hope you all had an enjoyable break over Christmas and New Year and very best of luck in 2013!

I haven’t written a blog in a few months so this is a bit of a summary of 2012 – what a year it was! It’s undoubtedly been the most rewarding and enjoyable year of my sporting career thus far.

Back in 2002 I remember sitting down with my coach with a list of career goals and an accurate timeline to match. Each season for the next ten years showed target times and selection to the international stage along the way. I was behind on this schedule from 2002 until 2010.

Like any person, athlete or not, I can vividly recount some experiences along the way that I knew were important, character building chapters.

One of the biggest challenges of my career was the move to Paris after falling a mile short of Olympic qualification in 2008. The move was a gamble, the last throw of the dice. I was 19 going on 20, not fast enough to qualify for Lottery funding, with one international cap, contemplating early retirement and in desperate need of a sizeable personal best.

Due to the fact my parents were my main financial sponsors and on a budget, I moved into an attic room in the city which wasn’t much wider than my wingspan. It was very basic. The small shower cubicle doubled up as a wardrobe, there was one hob to cook on, a communal toilet and no elevator – 123 stairs to the top. I had no TV and was without a washing machine, having to carry a suitcase full of washing every fortnight to the local launderette and wait four hours with a book of Sudoku until it finished – I couldn’t bear to climb the stairs on a Sunday, my day off!

I immersed myself in a new culture and attempted to learn a new language. Surprisingly, the Glaswegian accent was very helpful, rolling R’s and pronouncing accents wasn’t much of a problem however it became a very lonely place at times and maintaining motivation was difficult. I knew this was a key season in my career.

In the end the move proved to be the right decision, I made some huge improvements and although my parents were close to financial meltdown, I was back on track!

I’ve had some incredible opportunities and experiences since the Games which I’m hugely thankful for - meeting Pele, a true sporting legend and a half time parade at Celtic Park being the highlights.

These events have only increased my hunger and motivation for the coming seasons. My journey to this stage has been a long one but it has more than paid off in the experiences I’ve had. The Olympic Games and an Olympic medal have changed my life but it has not changed my personality. I finished second, which was a great result but we have now started a new four year cycle with World Championships, Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games on the horizon.  It’s taken ten years to reach the standard I want to be at and I want to stay there for as long as possible, enjoying the journey along the way! :)

Thanks Michael - it's always great to hear from you! You always provide such a great insight into life as a top sportsman. I wonder how many of us would be prepared to go another country and live in less than ideal circumstances in the pursuit of a dream. It helps having parents like Jackie and Michael too.

Like the rest of 'Team Jamieson', we're all looking forward to seeing how you get on in 2013 and cheering you on along the way!

Bertrams Party in Style

Our final festive posting for 2012 is from Bertrams :)

Norwich's The Lamb Inn  was the chosen venue for 100+ warehouse and office staff to get together and party in style.

There was a buffet, disco, 1 free drink for staff plus 20% off all drinks all night. Sounds great!

Tickets for the evening were sold out. Feedback from the night says it was fun with a great atmosphere, good tunes, lots of good food a great bunch of people.

There's one mystery left to clear up: someone’s stripy boxers were being thrown about the dance floor? Now who’s the owner of the stripy pants?

Answers can be left in the Comments below. Keep them clean please - as were the pants, I hope ;)