Dame Kelly Holmes announced as Fundraising Convention plenary speaker
Melanie May | 15 May 2019 | News
The Institute of Fundraising has announced that Dame Kelly Holmes will be Fundraising Convention’s plenary speaker on Wednesday 3 July.
As well as an Olympian, Holmes is a motivational speaker with expertise in mental health issues and the founder of the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, which supports disadvantaged young people and athletes across the UK.
The athlete has set, and still holds, the British records in the 600m, 800m and 1000m, and is an Olympic, Commonwealth and European champion who has achieved seven Gold, eight Silver and four Bronze medals throughout her career. This includes a double win in the 800m and 1500m at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, where she became the first Briton in over 80 years to do so.
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She has also won BBC Sports Personality of the Year, European Athlete of the Year and been honoured with a Damehood from the Queen and appointed Honorary Colonel of the Royal Armoured Corps.
However, before Dame Kelly started winning gold medals, her career was overshadowed by injury and disappointment. In her talks she draws on how she found the determination and dedication to overcome this, and also uses information from her life as a physical training instructor in the British Army, as well as her athletics career and role as The National School Sport Champion, to highlight the importance of sport and self care.
Other plenary speakers
Other plenary speakers at Fundraising Convention include:
- Hannah Ingram-Moore (2021)
- Sir Lenny Henry (2020)
- Will Gompertz (2018)
- Jon Snow (2017)
- Dan Pallotta (2010)
- John Bird MBE (2009)
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.