OLYMPIC athlete Bex Wilson, who competed in the bobsleigh event at the 2014 winter ganes for Team GB, visited Appleton Wiske Community Primary School to take part in a fitness challenge with the children.

Along with Darren Emmanuel from Sports for Champions, an organisation which assists unsponsored athletes, Bex set the pupils a number of exercises including press-ups, leg drives and star jumps, which the children were sponsored to complete within a limited time.

The aim of the exercise was to involve children in sport and improve their strength and coordination, as well as to raise money. The pupils of the small village school raised more than £720, of which 60 per cent goes to the school and the remainder to the organisation to help athletes who do not receive sponsorship in their sport – from paralympians to boxers, gymnasts and winter sports participants.

After all the physical challenges, Bex took part in a motivational assembly and told the story of how an ordinary girl realised her big dream through hard work, experiencing highs and lows along the way. She explained the qualities needed for success in all the different sports she has participated in. As a young track athlete she won five national titles before going on to compete in bobsleigh events. Now she has changed sports again to play rugby, and divides her time between training and coaching athletics and rugby, and visiting schools to inspire fitness in children.