Whakapapa

Danny’s Fundraising Challenge!

What: 

To row a complete marathon (42,195 metres) with the aim to raise at least £950

When: 

Tuesday 25^th October 2022

Where: 

Liverpool John Moores University Sports Building

Who am I?

I am a husband and a parent. I am a Middlesaxon from down south, living up north.  I am a colleague and friend. I am a watcher of clouds.

I am a person passionate about sport.  I play it (currently disc golf); I watch it (Manchester Raiders Kabaddi); I work in it (Senior Lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University).

And I am a 55-year-old middle-aged man attempting to do something I have never done before! 

Why am I doing this?

I am a proud trustee of The True Athlete Project charity, and so I am taking on this challenge as part of one of the principles we embrace, Whakapapa: being able to pass forward what we have been fortunate to have ourselves. The money I raise from my challenge will support scholarships for The True Athlete Project’s Global Mentoring Programme so that young athletes can benefit from the guidance of a TAP mentor and be a better person for themselves and the communities in which they live.

I love sport. I love the playfulness involved, the exploration of possibilities and potentials.  I love the challenges it presents. I love the way I can discover physical, psychological and spiritual capabilities. I love the commonality of the pursuit, the unity in the struggle, the harmony of experience. I love that no matter where in the world, sport can provide an experience that all people can be a part of.

And I love The True Athlete Project because of what it places at the heart of those experiences.  Compassion. An awareness and valuing of self and others. And a fostering of continuing holistic development internally and in one’s communities.

So in that spirit, I will be trying to go twice as far as I have ever done before in a single row, to help others through The True Athlete Project excel in their humanity. I hope you can support me in taking on this challenge.

What is Whakapapa?

Whakapapa is The True Athlete Project's summer fundraising campaign.  When we designed this fundraising challenge, we knew that it needed to be about more than just raising money; it should also bring the TAP community together and build on our shared mission to create a better world through sport. 

To this end, we have been inspired by a Māori concept, which is at the heart of the New Zealand All Blacks culture, called Whakapapa.

Whakapapa says that each of us are part of an unbreakable chain of people, stretching back in time to our first ancestors and forward in time to the end of time. This chain represents our tribe. We share a purpose with these people. We belong. It is a powerful idea that suggests that we will be judged not on our material successes in life, but on what we did for our tribe.

With this fundraising campaign we aim to connect the current cohort of mentors and mentees on our Global Mentoring Programme with next years generation of mentoring pairings.

This is about both giving back and paying it forward, and we envisage it becoming a wave that passes through each cohort, connecting them in an unbreakable chain.

#CommunityResponsibility

Who are The True Athlete Project? 

TAP is a US and UK based charity which aims to build a more compassionate world through sport. We design and deliver a range of creative, mindfulness-based programmes for athletes and coaches at all levels of sport - from primary school children to Olympians and Parlaympians. We work with 40+ sports, in over 15 countries. 

We also deliver a pioneering athlete mentoring programme, pairing world-class athletes with young people in a year-long nurturing relationship. Our aim is to unleash sports true potential to holistically nurture the long-term personal development of each and every athlete.