Gail Emms' Blog by Gail_Emms

I have recently become an Ambassador for the charity Access Sport which is a fantastic charity that really helps bring sport and clubs to areas that are deprived and have limited facilities. They had a "Sports Jam" at the Mile End Stadium in East London where loads of local kids got the opportunity to try loads of different activities such as judo, athletics, badminton, skate-boarding and football. England footballer Rachel Yankey was there as well. And there was so much enthusiasm from all of the kids which was so great to see and be a part of. In some areas of this country, there are no clubs for youngsters and so they fall into the trap of getting into gangs etc because there is nothing else to do. Access Sport helps local clubs get better by bringing in coaches and equipment so that more kids can be involved.

There is only one badminton club in the whole of the Tower Hamlets Borough and with a wide population of the area being Asian, I was really shocked by this. Badminton is a fantastic sport to get the kids into because it is easy to set up, it’s very social and indoors! I have seen a passion for the sport rapidly increase in the Asian community, so I went along to the Sports Jam to really promote it and the fact that it’s a great way to keep healthy. I had to leave after a few hours, but the stadium was still buzzing and I know for most of the kids there, it was a day to remember.

I went to the offices of LOCOG (London Organising Committee for Olympic Games) this week as every Thursday, they hold a "Team Thursday" where an Olympic sport comes in to give a presentation. So, myself, Nathan, Head Coach Andy Wood and the Competition Manager Hilary Atkinson all turned up and gave a little badminton show! We had no idea what the other sports had done or what was expected of us, but Hilary gave a brief background on badminton and then left it to Nathan and I. Now, the trouble is, when Nathan and I get together, we turn into a bit of a double act! We start off pretty serious and it ends up with us poking fun at each other and we often forget where we are!

I started talking about the whole Olympic experience and soon enough, Nathan starts butting in with anecdotes and pure humiliation of poor me, and so when it came to our little challenge (yes, we set up a mini badminton court in the offices in Canary Wharf!), I had to get my revenge, so I smacked a few shuttles at him, much to everyone's delight! I think that everyone thought that was the challenge, because as soon as we wrapped it up, we were ducking out of the way as LOCOG employees were whacking shuttles everywhere! I think I overheard someone saying that they wanted to keep our mini court as a permanent fixture in the building! The head of the events team came up to me after and said that he loved the way our presentation was a mix of comedy, humour and fun. It was never actually meant to be that... it always ends up like that when Nathan and I are involved! I think I pushed it a little too far though, when I suggested an idea for all ex-Olympians to get free tickets... Bet they've not heard that before?!

It was another weekend of Badminton Master Classes this weekend, Saturday in North Wales and Sunday in Hatfield. Both of course with Nathan, which meant I saw way too much of him this week! 5 days out of 7! We went to Wales on the Friday night and stayed over nearby and I thought wow, I‘m actually going to get my first lie-in for 5 months!! I was so excited! However, no-one told the rest of the guests that and from 1am to 2am, I had some drunk idiot called Lee trying to get into my room. Now he was obviously he was very drunk and disorientated and clearly had the wrong room, but no matter how much I screamed and swore at him to get lost, he continued to bang on the door and convince me that it was his room. I rang reception to get the manager to come and get rid of him, but it seems that other people were having the same problem and I didn't know the room that Nathan and Andy were staying in, so I couldn't call them for help.

So I was left to continue shouting at this crazy man who was depriving me of sleep. If you know this person - Lee, who was staying in a hotel in North Wales after a wedding and he has some vague memory of a girl swearing at him a lot in the middle of the night, please smack him for me. I didn't sleep properly after he finally went away as I was a bit shaken up by it all, so that was my beautiful lie-in all over. With hindsight, I would have opened the door and punched him in the face. No-one should come between a new mum and sleep!! Nothing to report on the weight this week - I have stayed the same and not lost anything. I have stopped breast-feeding now, so it will be interesting to see what happens with my body after that! Thank you so much for the tips to cope with cottage cheese!! I am sticking with it for another week and I like the adding spring onion idea which helps, as does cucumber! I’d better lose at least a pound from eating it or I will be furious!!