Tony Blair goes indoor rowing in Durham

The visit coincided with the launch of The Tony Blair Sports Foundation (TBSF)’s drive to get 30,000 schoolchildren involved in sport leading up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Working in partnership with the National Health Service, the TBSF is actively encouraging children to take up indoor rowing as means of staying healthy and having fun in sport.

 ‘From the very beginning, the Sports Foundation has been about opening up grassroots sports to more people across the North East, by training volunteers and coaches and placing them where they’re needed most,’ said Blair.

‘Working with many schools, businesses and sports clubs, our tennis and indoor rowing competitions have already been a great success in recent years.

‘They’ve given thousands of children access to sports they might not otherwise have had the chance to take part in and this year we want to use the inspiration of the Olympics to go further.

Over 18,000 schoolchildren took part in the TBSF’s Get Going, Get Rowing! indoor rowing competition last year, which involved 70 schools across the North East.

For more information on this year’s tournament, see the Get Going, Get Rowing! flyer.

Working in partnership with British Rowing, the TBSF are set to train 40 Junior Rowing Leaders in schools across the North East over the coming year, as well as providing 10 Indoor Rowing for Young People courses across the region.

‘The work of the Tony Blair Sports Foundation is about ensuring that legacy for the North East by inspiring more young people to get into sport, so that it becomes the healthy habit of a lifetime.’