“I don’t know what life looks like in practice, but I want it to count”

I had the privilege of listening to Dan Walker interview Richard Holmes on Saturday night in a packed Fulwood church. Richard is in simple terms; a good human, he has ‘worked for 30 years towards a world where children love being active’ and was talking about his life with Motor Neurone Disease.

As a guess, I first met Richard in the mid 1990’s, the first job that I had in sport, was as a coach at ‘Kings Sports Camps’ in Sheffield, the organisation that Richard led for over 30 years. I was an assistant coach and then a group coach at the camps at Goodwin Sports centre in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. It was an experience that I took a lot from, creating an environment for children to enjoy playing sport and learning about coaching and facilitating play. Since then, I have been fortunate to take on many roles in sport and I know the skills that have come later started to develop at Kings.

I loved the camps, it filled the easter and summer holidays with a job that didn’t feel like work and gave me something to talk about in my first real job interview. I remember each of the times that I met him, the last time was when I contacted him to say that I had got my first proper job and that I wouldn’t be easy for me to fulfil the commitment that I had made to coach at Kings that summer. His message was simple…something to the tune of ‘don’t be stupid, go and get stuck into the job, we’ll be fine’.

Richard was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in 2022; he is being robbed of his health and all the sports that he has loved playing to stay fit, are losing out on the joy he brought to them. Though it was in part very sad, Richard and his wife Lorraine spoke very openly and honestly about life and staying positive.

It made me consider my own life…family, friends, work etc etc.

• Richard spoke about the chapters of his life and reflected on what he had learnt along the way and what he was grateful for. He said ‘I don’t know what life looks like in practice, but I want it to count’.
• He spoke of three occasions when he was close to death, each of them gave him a different perspective and a sliding doors effect that could have made things very different.
• Lorraine spoke about the last two years being a roller coaster; being overwhelmed by the incredible support and seeing everyone’s face when they shared the news of Richard’s condition.

Since following the public story of Rob Burrow and reading the ‘Extra Mile’ book by Sir Kev last year, I have been supporting the work of the MND Association and I have plans to continue fundraising in 2024 and beyond for the MNDA.

For now though; some other ways to support the MND community include:

• ENDMND is fighting Motor Neurone Disease through the power of fashion. A charitable organisation who’s mission is simple: we sell clothing that helps raise awareness and funds for the MND Association. Joe Linsky was at the talk on Saturday night.
• ?Follow and share the Rob Burrow 7 podcast, I have listened to all the episodes so far and particularly enjoyed Jonny Wilkinson, Wayne Rooney and Dame Kelly Holmes.Rugby league legend Rob Burrow who has Motor Neurone Disease, asks questions to guests using his eye-gaze machine.? Inspired by the number seven, which Burrow wore on his back when playing, episodes explore how sporting greats deal with adversity and how to celebrate the good at every opportunity.
• My friend Robin Grover FCCT NPQEL is cycling 500 plus miles in January 2024 as part of ‘Doddie Aid 2024 Team Barbarians’. If you would like to support his efforts, you can read about his efforts here. In his own words "I have never done 500 miles in a month before as trying to fit it in each day has been near impossible, so to do this will be a real challenge...at least 16 miles a day".
• Help Lasswade Rugby Football Club build the Doddie Brick Road; they are selling virtual bricks, each one represents 1km of the 3,000 that the ‘Dodd1e’5 Gr4nd S7am Team’ will cycle from Edinburgh to Rome between the 28th February and 8th March 2024. You can read more here.
• Life’s Good is an is an inspirational true story about love and living well with a terminal disease. Hazel Carter (Hodge) wrote the book about caring for a loved one who suddenly receives a terminal diagnosis, her husband Alan, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common form of motor neurone disease (MND).
• Oddballs support the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association with their Rob Burrow range and My Name'5 Doddie Foundation with their Doddie Wier range ?

Finally, I am one of the many people who have been employed by Kings and have built a career with the intention of helping more people love sport and be part of the movement.

Richard, you have made a difference and to me you have lived a life that more than counts. Thank you.