Gail Emms' Blog by Gail_Emms

Hello! Hope everyone is having a good January? Anyone on a detox? Health kicks? No alcohol January? Well if you are and you’re struggling, keep going as you'll feel fab afterwards. I'm doing okay so far. I’ve only had one glass of wine and fitness has been good this week with a couple of runs and some British Military Fitness as well. I have tried to be good with food and that has been the hardest with me. I will eat really healthily all day and then see the Xmas cheese in the fridge and the crackers on the side telling me to eat them so, I give in. Oh well, thank goodness they are almost gone!! I am having very strange dreams indeed...!

My radio show "Road to 2012" is back on air after the Xmas break. Not long to go now really, so the programme is really hotting up with all the latest sports news and local Olympic stories. We had Kriss Akabusi on the show on last week (3 Counties Radio 6-7pm!) and he was just fantastic. He is so enthusiastic and positive and it was a pleasure talking to him. He just makes the Olympics come to life and that is what it is all about. He is working hard as a London 2012 Ambassador and I cannot think of a more perfect man for the job. If you want to hear the interview, check it out on the iPlayer.

I was at Sainsbury's in Holborn last Tuesday with the Youth Sport Trust and I was there for the announcement that Sainsbury's are going to be supporting the School Games which is in May this year. They are investing £10 million pounds to make sure that this fantastic event can go ahead, where young people will be the first to use the Olympic stadium, velodrome and the aquatics centre before the competitors of London 2012. Jeremy Hunt MP was there and afterwards he made an announcement that £1 billion would be available for secondary schools to have community clubs there to get more people active and involved with sport. I think this is a much needed boost, not only to school sport which has suffered massively due to the funding cuts, but it is some money going into the legacy of London 2012 too.

The number of active people in this country has dropped, so more needs to be done to make sure we don't lose even more. I wish this money had have been available a few years ago, so the ball would have been rolling before London 2012, but I am not going to turn the money away for sure. I have spoken a lot in my blogs about the importance of school sport and community sport and now this is a chance for people to use this money wisely and create a 2012 legacy in the local community. On Wednesday I played a bit of badminto! This time it was against GB no.1 table tennis player Andrew Baggaley. It was pretty funny making him run around the badminton court and he was exhausted after a few rallies as it was completely different for him.

But then he got his revenge as we played table tennis and I got my butt kicked! I am useless at table tennis anyway, and he just made me look soooo bad! I loved having a go though and it was all for my radio programme and BBC Look East filmed it all for their programme too! Let’s just say, we should stick to our own sports!! After my attempt at table tennis, I was at St Mary Magdalene Academy in Islington for a Premier League 4 Sport (PL4S) event. The Premier League has put its name and backing behind community sports clubs to help more young people get active. Badminton is one of the sports and it has really benefited the sport and the young people involved.

I got there and was instantly challenged to a game by the insanely competitive Darren Campbell and Graeme Le Saux. I have to say that they were both pretty good, but Graeme was the better out of the two! It was so hot in the hall and we were all melting but as we were all really competitive, we were determined to try and beat the hell out of each other. Great day, great initiative. The four sports are badminton, judo, volleyball and table tennis and now more sports are going to be added which can only be a good thing. And finally, I have been to 3 schools in the last week and I know there will be a few more this year. Cox Green and Newlands in Maidenhead and Dragon School in Oxford. Great enthusiasm for the up and coming Olympics which is great and let's hope it continues! See you next week!