Sport
Gold medal Olympian remembered with plaque
One man’s determination to revive the reputation of a Birmingham sporting icon and Olympic gold medallist has paid off with the news that the forgotten hero is to be honoured by a prestigious Blue Plaque. In 1976, Birmingham-born John
Curry made figure skating history at the Winter Olympics taking home two gold medals for team. But in the years that followed,
Curry slowly slipped out of the public consciousness, and his untimely death in 1994 left a generation completely unaware of his achievements.
‘Getting recognition for John Curry has been a labour of love’
Actor and writer Tony Timberlake
embarked on personal journey to change this, first through his one man show, Looking For John, which premiered at Birmingham Repertory Theatre last November and secondly by nominating John Curry, with the support of the REP to be honoured with a Blue Plaque in his home city. The Lord Mayor of Birmingham,
Cllr Carl Rice and John Curry’s brother, Andrew, unveiled the Blue Plaque, awarded by Birmingham Civic Society, in honour of John’s achievements. John grew up in Acocks Green
and the plaque will feature on the house where he was born at 946 Warwick Road, now Arden Lodge Residential Home. Tony Timberlake said: “Getting
recognition for John Curry has been a labour of love.
In remembrance (from left): Celia and Andrew Curry, Carl Rice and Tony Timberlake “I felt he deserved to be
remembered and celebrated again in the city where he was born and then died. I’m thrilled that John Curry will be celebrated once more and remembered forever in this way.” John Curry OBE (1949 – 1994) was a world champion ice skater
and gold medal winner at the 1976 Winter Olympic Games. He first learnt to skate at Solihull Ice Rink. Tony Timberlake’s play Looking
for John will be at The Assembly, Edinburgh as part of the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe from 3 to 20 August 2017.
Archers on target thanks to MEL
Staff from Midland Expressway Ltd (MEL) were visited by two Olympic Archery hopefuls after providing them with free passage on the M6toll for a year – allowing them to travel to the GB Archery Academy in Lilleshall stress free. MEL offered their support to Luca Jaques, aged 13,
from Yorkshire and Joshua Smith, aged 11, from Solihull. The support from MEL will ensure both youngsters
and their families can make two trips a week for a year on the M6toll. The GB Archery Academy programme aims to
support the development of athletes through an environment of sporting and professional excellence. MEL’s donation forms part of a wider initiative to support local schools and community projects.
Luca Jaques (left) and Joshua Smith with Sheena Hawkins, MEL social committee member
Owzat: Kristi Douglas, senior sales executive at Champions (UK), Gareth Roberts, and Sophia Hayes, Champions sales director
Club teams up with Champions
Warwickshire County Cricket Club has secured a new two-year commercial partnership with brand agency Champions (UK) plc to be its official marketing and communications agency. Through the partnership, Champions has secured Edgbaston as the host venue for its Birmingham Sports Awards ceremony for the next two years. It will also receive preferential
use of the venue’s conference and events suites for sporting dinners and other banqueting events that the agency runs for clients. The partnership will also give Champions an opportunity to present its services to Warwickshire CCC’s portfolio of 35 commercial partners, in addition to being on- hand to support the in-house commercial team at Edgbaston on their projects. Gareth Roberts, commercial
director at Warwickshire CCC, said: “Our conference and events team has been working with Champions for several years when it has staged flagship events, such as the Birmingham Sports Awards, here at Edgbaston. “We’re thrilled to develop this
relationship to a commercial partnership and to provide more opportunities for Champions to showcase its services through our Warwickshire CCC, Birmingham Bears and Edgbaston commercial channels.” John Hayes, CEO of Champions,
said: “This is a really exciting development for us. Having worked alongside Warwickshire CCC for a number of years, it’s a great opportunity to take the relationship to the next level and benefit both parties. “We’ve always been impressed
by the set-up at Edgbaston, so the prospect of working even more closely with their team is fantastic.”
July/August 2017 CHAMBERLINK 61
Sector Focus
(picture by John Hipkiss)
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