Sporting Edge
Summer 2018
The Steve Bernard Foundation
Charity registered in England and Wales charity Number 1167766
Registered address: 32 Pine Road, Bournemouth, England BH9 1NA.
Serving Sport ∙ Remembering Steve
We were joined at the presentation by Nick Excell who organises the Gary Beale
Golf Day along with Gary's wife, his daughter and grandchildren who raised over
£4,000 towards the cost of the chairs and Mark Freeman who climbed Mount
Snowdon to help buy another chair.
Martin Cook, PE Teacher, told us that this will change and improve the health of all
the children as well as their posture from having to move from their usual and cum-
bersome day chairs to a sports model and the kids cannot wait to have extra sports
lessons at lunchtime and afterschool now!
Children Mobile at Victoria Education Centre
Our wonderful partnership with Victoria Education Centre continues to flourish
after we purchased another 10 sports wheelchairs for the children to play high
speed games such as Netball, Basketball, Football and Rugby.
Wow! Where do we start? 26 riders, includ-
ing 5 people who amazingly hadn’t ridden
more than 20 miles before, all assembled at
Poole Docks very early on Wednesday 6th
June to load their bikes onto the Hendy
Group sponsored vans.
We landed in Cherbourg mid-afternoon to a
cold & breezy welcome knowing that we had
35 miles of hilly terrain to get to the first
campsite where our 4 man back up team
(BUT boys) had driven ahead to erect our
tented village in St Symphorian le Valois on
the western coast of Normandy. If the new-
bies thought that this was going to be an
easy ride, the long drawn out hill of Cher-
bourg quickly changed their minds but every-
body made safely to camp by 6 o’clock where
the BUT boys had prepared a BBQ and had
cold beers waiting for them.
Day 2 was going to be the easiest day of the
challenge and so it proved with a bright sun-
ny day with no wind and everyone enjoyed
the 45 miles of Normandy countryside before
settling down at the wonderful L’Eaux
campsite which boasted an outside heated
swimming pool for everyone to ease their
aching legs and backsides before enjoying a
Pizza and Leffe beer night before retiring to
rest up in anticipation of the toughest 3rd
day which was over 60 miles of relentless
hills!
Day 3 didn’t disappoint but it make some of
our cyclists despair, not only were the hills
severe, we had a relentless headwind to
contend with which even made going down-
hill difÏcult and for some of the keener rid-
ers, they had a few extra miles put on them-
selves after missing the first turning coming
out of the campsite. Everyone eventually
made it to the historical Martragny Chateau
which was a key control building during
WW11. The BUT boys had again set up a
fantastic BBQ feast for the cyclists, some of
whom took over 10 hours to finish.
The elevation was over 1500metres (higher
than Ben Nevis!).
Everybody went to bed early, there were a
lot of tired people and they knew there was a
70+ mile journey awaiting them in the morn-
ing.
Day 4 was a drizzly start, but after everyone
had eaten their Oomf! porridge, we all cycled
en-masse for a tourist stop in Bayeux, the city
behind the purpose of the original ride in
2009 greeted us with the magnificent Cathe-
dral which was festooned in French, British
and American flags in celebration of the
WW11 liberation and everyone took this
opportunity to take lots of photos.
We then all proceeded out of this beautiful
city into the countryside straight into a 2
hour thunderstorm where we all struggled to
either find shelter or to tough our way
through it! Some riders who forgot their rain-
jackets had to improvise and use sign lan-
guage in a café to get some bin bags to adapt
into rainwear. It also was a day of punctures
and tumbles with the rain causing havoc.
We must, at this point, thank our good
friends at Primera Sports who again supplied
us with all the mechanical equipment we
needed to keep on riding and to our resident
mobile mechanic, the wonderful James Hor-
ton who patched up, tweaked and repaired
every bike that needed any TLC!
The Thunderstorm disappeared as quickly as
it arrived and we were treated to some sun-
shine to complete this gruelling day and
eventually all arrived at the picturesque Anse
du Brick campsite although we had to delay
our presentation banquet at La Maison
Rouge by a couple of hours to allow the cy-
clists to get showered & changed.
The presentation evening did not disappoint,
the setÝng and the views, the food and wine
and the company made for a great evening,
we were sharing the venue with a Gypsy
wedding and they were good fun too with
our party chipping in the buy the bride and
groom a bottle of Moet.
The coveted awards were dished out after an
emotive speech from Stevie’s Dad, Tony and
a comedy turn by ‘Van Rouge’ better known
as Frampo after he had indulged in a few
glasses of vino!
The winners were:
Best Rider: Paul Payne
King of the Mountains: Liam Jamieson
Comedy Fall: Paul Kimber
Dick of the Trip: Tony Bernard
Trip details: 238miles, 3120metres climbing.
We must thank our sponsors & supporters:
Kingren Groundworks Ltd.
LTN ltd.
The Hendy Group.
Primera Sports.
Oomf!
Grange YFC for the BBQ equipment.
The BUT guys Jody Twidale, Jules Hiscock,
Stuart Hiscock and Chris Frampton for all
their hard work erecting the tents and cook-
ing the meals.
This has been another wonderful event set
up by the Foundation raising over £10,000. It
must be said that this was a tough challenge
with everyone overcoming all the obstacles
thrown at them, the hills; the headwinds; the
thunderstorms; the long days in the saddle; a
few punctures; and a few falls but it was all
done with a smile, some laughs and a gri-
mace or two as well!
SBF GOES BACK TO BAYEUX!
There was yet another fantastic showing of fancy dress outfits on Boscombe
seafront as we celebrated Stevie's birthday with the latest Fancy Dress Fun Run.
We were extremely grateful to everyone who took part with people coming
from all over the country to make the most of the day. A big thank you to every-
one involved in organising such a great event, the bar gets higher every time!
Particular thanks go to our friends at Wolf Lighting and Coastal Discos for sup-
plying our start line and the entertainment to create such a unique party atmos-
phere! Finally, thanks go to our OfÏcial Photographer, John Wright, for his bril-
liant photos and well done to all the category winners and to everyone who
took part in the run.
FUN RUN 2018
A Night of Wine
An excellent night was had by everybody that
joined us for our Wine Tasting Evening at
Chineside on Bournemouth Seafront. Our
guests were treated to 10 different wines
from the South of France by wine expert Jim
Dawson of Jolly Vintner Too. A big thank you
also to Fraser, the restaurant manager for all
his help and to Jacques Bernard for his hilari-
ous take on the rafne!!
We raised a tidy sum of £660.00 so all the
hangovers were most certainly worthwhile!
Congratulations to the Bournemouth based Beach Volleyball duo of Vicky Palmer
and Jess Grimson (pictured in their SBF kit and at the Games) who were selected to
represent England at this years Commonwealth Games in Australia. They are a cred-
it to their sport, proving that with dedication and hard work you can make it to the
pinnacle even with holding down full time jobs too.
Wimborne Amateur Boxing Club
It was an absolute pleasure to be invited along with
the Mayor and Mayoress of Wimborne for the ofÏ-
cial opening of the Wimborne Amateur Boxing
Club. The enthusiasm of the head coach Dave Rim-
mer and his volunteer team was plain to see and
they are helping dozens of youngsters and adults
enjoy the disciplined sport of boxing. We were
therefore very pleased to be able to support them
by supplying 3 x top of the range Punch-Bags and a
regulation standard ring cover.
Millie strikes Silver at World Championships
Pictured is the very talented 10 year old Millie Wicks from Poole
who returned home from the UIPM World Championships in
Cape Town having represented GB and winning a World Silver
Medal in the team event. Millie, who is being supported by us,
is establishing a fine reputation in the world of Triathle (which is
a combination of Shoot, Swim and Run and Laser Gun Shoot and
Run) and she has already represented GB at the European
Champs in Portugal.
Keep up the good work Millie from us all at SBF.
SBF support English Beach Volleyball Duo.
Help for the Tuesday Club
Helping a Battle in Hastings
We are very pleased to see how well the St
Mary's Triathlon Club in Hastings is thriving
now that Paul Harris, the Head Coach has quali-
fied as a Level 2 coach which was sponsored by
our Foundation. He is very enthusiastic about
the sport of Triathlon and is now helping doz-
ens of youngsters and adults progress in the
disciplines of swimming, cycling and run-
ning. Wishing the whole club a successful fu-
ture from us all at SBF.
6 years ago we bought a special
trike for a charming little girl at St
Marks Primary School in Bourne-
mouth, fast forward to 2017 and
we surprised her at her new
school, the Bourne Academy in
East Howe with a brand new
made to measure trike!
Charlotte who has cerebral palsy and quadriplegia needed a new bigger trike to enable
her to participate in more activities and improve her fitness and it was lovely to see that
she hasn’t lost her sense of humour and her charming personality!
We would like to thank the Academy Principal, Mr Avoth and all his staff for the warm
welcome and for helping us set up the surprise for Charlotte.
Christmas Comes Early For Charlotte Oxford aged 14!
We were privileged to be invited to the hugely popu-
lar Tuesday Club at the Beaufort Centre in South-
bourne to present to them with a large array of indoor
sports equipment. This club was set up in 2012 by
Paula Smith and Julie Jamrozy to provide educational,
social and sports workshops for adults and youngsters
with learning, mental, physical and complex needs in
the Bournemouth and Christchurch area. They started
with 6 people and have now built up to supporting
between 50 to 70 people every week! The enthusiasm
and love shown by these volunteers was a joy to behold and the set up also enables all the carers to have a break from their
day to day routine and enjoy the company of other carers. And to cap it off, Paula and her son who entered our fun run last
month presented Tony with a cheque for £100 so that we can help other projects!
Mark spoke to us about what he could do to raise some mon-
ey for our foundation. He had always wanted to climb up
Snowdonia but thought it might be too much for him as he
was in his own words "slightly overweight, drinks and smokes
too much and was totally unfit! " We said ‘Go for it, you only
live once!’
Well, he only went and conquered it on a day that was full of
heavy rain and strong winds and he raised a very impressive
£500 which has gone towards a specialist sports wheelchair.
Mark Freeman, you have done you and your family proud!
Thank you very much.
If you want to raise funds for our Foundation, contact one of
our trustees or email info@stevebernardfoundation.com
Fundraisers
Congratulations Sarah for completing the Bournemouth Half
Marathon in a time of 2:00:46 without a lot of training and
raising over £800 for Stevie's Foundation and in memory of
your brother Jonathan Park. Thank you so much and we hope
your legs have stopped aching now!
Friday 13th April wasn't an unlucky day for Stevie's Foundation as
the former players of the Winton Liberal Football Club donat-
ed £141.00 to us from their reunion night. Thereafter, the Freema-
sons Brethren of the Llewellin Lodge (no 7907) presented him with a
cheque for £300.00 in support of our charity work. Tony is pictured
with his Worshipful Master, Eddie Kusminoff.
We depend completely on fundraisers:
Tony was invited down to the Sir David English Centre to be present-
ed with a cheque for an amazing £1270.00 by Bob Kitley who runs
the Soccer Solutions 6 a side league. When a player 'misbehaves'
and gets booked by the referee, they have to make a donation to
our Charity. They have now accumulated a massive £3550.00 over
the last few years! So it's a Big Thank You to all of the players, refer-
ees and Bob, who runs the only independent soccer leagues in Dor-
set. They have a couple of vacancies for teams on a Monday if any
budding players are interested, go to www.soccer-solutions.co.uk
for more information.
Mark Freeman
Sarah Dunsford
Naughty but Nice!
Unlucky 13?
Thank you also to:
Carter Community School Staff, Downes Wine Bar, Avon Val-
ley Skittles League, Tennis-Bound Muscliff and everyone else
who have donated to us!
Work in the community
It was nice to hear from Dan Cook of Victoria Education Centre. They recently
visited the Poole North Scout Group to hold a disability awareness day and let
the scouts use the wheelchairs that were bought by SBF so they could learn
about different disabilities that people can have and about the difÏcult chal-
lenges that wheelchair reliant people encounter every single day.
Keep up the good work Dan!
It was an emotional time for Sue and Tony when they were invited to St Marks Primary School in late June to present some
gym equipment and a new football kit. This was Stevie's (and Jacques) first school and it was fitÝng that the whole school gave
them such a wonderful reception at the Worship Assembly where Tony gave a talk about Stevie’s life and ambitions, the bene-
fits of sport for all and the work of the Foundation in the community.
Pictured top right are Tony and Sue with the deputy head, sports-teacher and pupils and also the girls wearing the new SBF kit.
Primary School Reunion for Tony and Sue
Another New Opportunities Sports
Day hosted at Victoria Education
Centre.
Another fantastic day at the New Opportunities Sports
Day hosted by Victoria Education Centre. We had over
60 schoolchildren attend this event from all over the
county to enjoy a day of sports delivered by some of the
best coaches in the area. A big thank you must go to Val
Ford, the coaches, teachers, TA's (who are brilliant), the
volunteers from Bournemouth Uni and everyone else
who made this a day to remember for the children and
parents. Every child received a certificate and a gold
medal from Tony at the end of day.
©The Steve Bernard Foundation 2018
To apply for funding, please download an application form at
www.stevebernardfoundation.com/apply-for-funding
Waitrose—Winton, Bournemouth
Are you looking to complete a challenge this year?
Why not raise funds for the Steve Bernard Foundation?
See www.stevebernardfoundation.com
Newsletter produced by Chris Steele.
Our flourishing partnership with the Primary Schools in
Bournemouth continues to grow and this time we were
extremely impressed with the quality of work from the
Young Bronze Ambassador Groups at our local schools who
were all set the task of devising and actioning a plan/project
to encourage their peers to improve their health and fitness
through diet and exercise. We, of course received some
very impressive entries and it was very difÏcult to select the
best five but we managed to decide on the winning schools
and they were St Marks, Epiphany, Christ the King, Queen's
Park Academy and Kingsleigh Primary. They will all receive a
grant to implement their projects.
Well done to all of the schools and to Mrs. Dunsford for
coordinating the scheme.
Bournemouth Primary Schools Ambassador Programme receives a boost!