One picture painted in Britain at that time was of many young people lacking aspirations; some involved in abuse of alcohol or drugs, some engaged in low level violence or just poor behaviour.  The statistics also showed that teenage pregnancies were amongst the highest in Europe.  However, David’s philosophy and instincts suggested that young people have great potential and with the right support could be a credit to themselves and the communities in which they live.

 

At age fourteen David was only six stone in weight and being dyslexic had only learned to read at the age of 10. As he often says this was not a great start if you wanted to be an Olympic Champion, World record holder and lifelong educationalist.  However this experience prompted him to ask young people never to under-estimate what they might achieve.

 

Aged twelve David was inspired by a race at the White City Stadium when the Great Britain runner Chris Chataway beat Vladimir Kutz in a new World record time. David decided that he wanted to be an Olympian.  With a clear vision, huge determination and hard work he achieved his dream.  Standing on the podium in Mexico he asked himself “Why me?” Ever since he has researched and successfully taught how to reach outstanding performance in business, sport and education.  His overriding philosophy is that there is a spark of greatness in everyone and the difference between mediocrity and success lies in the area of enhanced awareness of our goals and dreams and a choice to take personal responsibility for achieving them.

 

Having spent twenty years helping senior leaders change the habits of a lifetime, through his business Developing Potential, David wanted to use these same skills with young people to develop empowering habits which they can use in their lives.  With this personal background and with the 2012 games as a catalyst he wanted to share his passion for supporting young peoples’ dreams.  

 

With Les Duggan and Mark Solomons, David established 21^st Century Legacy and created Be the Best you can Be, as a world class programme, to challenge and support the hearts and minds of young people so they choose to develop their potential to the full. Olympians, as role models, kick start each school launch and bring the ‘achievement of dreams’ into the curriculum. This launch is followed by a further 11 modules designed to help young people discover the skills they need to follow their dreams and to begin their own successful journey.