Official launch of the British Leisure Show

On Wednesday 15th July, I was very proud to see hundreds of guests attend the Official Launch of the first ever British Leisure Show. It marked a very significant moment for me, my team, and all the participating companies and organisations.

The night before, every member of my team was feeling a huge sense of anticipation. After battling to erect the last few 20ft promo flags, we sat down around a barbecue and enjoyed a few beers, with the best spare ribs I’ve tasted in years. Thank you Mr. Holliman for such hospitality under the awning of your beautiful motorhome!

At 5.30am, having been awake for a couple of hours, I prepared to greet Maggie Philbin and the BBC Radio Berkshire team. Maggie broadcast LIVE from the venue that morning, and the next few hours flew by as I helped to demonstrate the fundamental differences between camping in tents and sleeping in luxurious motorhomes. I think the high point of the day for me was at 7.30 am when I found myself sitting next to Maggie on a leopard skin duvet cover in a Bell Tent; not at all what I had been expecting, but a memory that I’ll treasure. I un-zipped the entrance, and followed Maggie out feeling like a new man.

I’ve certainly had my share of high points in life, including marrying Sarah and seeing the birth of my two beautiful sons, George and Harry. But I can honestly say that I felt a similar sense of pride when I addressed the assembled guests at the Official Launch of the British Leisure Show, as I knew just how significant the moment was.

I shared my feelings about some of the key driving factors behind the concept of the new British Leisure Show. I explained that we are delivering a new type of event, a Show specifically tailored to the demands and needs of both our visitors and exhibitors.

I regard the Show as something of a solution. I can see how it will provide a great value family experience for anyone looking for fresh ideas about enjoying leisure time in Britain, and I can see it providing a real business solution for many companies that are looking to discover cost-effective ways to meet new customers.

In a very short space of time, my team has tripled in size, and I now manage one of the few businesses in the country which is expanding and creating new job opportunities. The whole team is highly motivated, and with the support of our proud sponsors, partners and exhibitors, we will be creating a hugely positive force for the future.

If you haven’t already, join us! We have a lot to look forward to...

What kit to buy....

Well, we still haven’t joined a dive club yet but we have met some very enthusiastic people who have invited us out. The only minor problem is that we need to get some of our own kit, most centres will hire out wetsuits, BCD’s, tanks etc however it is always better to have your own. We have today established that buying everything in one hit is going to set us back about £1000 each…ouch! So it is going to be back to the drawing board to decide what is an absolute must have and what can go on the birthday and Christmas present list…

Funny photos!

I have just been through our holiday photos and have found some very funny unflattering pictures of me looking like a geeky librarian attempting to dive care of my Cressi Prescription Goggles...oops, mask. It doesn’t matter how hard I try, I am never going to look chic and sporty in my dive kit!!!

Anyway, I am still investigating local dive centres but the weather at the moment just isn’t helping my enthusiasm….

Bravely stepping into the underwater world!

Well, I am not the most ‘out-doorsey’ person in the world, so when I was told ‘you need to do something new and active’ I immediately panicked and poured myself another glass of wine. The extent of my outdoor living is doing some very mediocre pot-gardening on the balcony and if I am feeling particularly energetic, I walk to my local pub.

Long-suffering ‘A’ (my other half) had been talking about doing his PADI course for ages but had never quite made it to the dive centre, so as we were about to disappear off to Mallorca for two weeks I thought what better present than a day’s Discovery course at El Buceo in Port Andratx.

As it turned out, this was an inspired present! ‘A’ convinced me that I should have a go too (which I have to say, I was not particularly enthusiastic about). Well, we arrived on Sunday morning with absolutely no idea what to expect – we were met by our fabulous instructor Matthias who sat us down with a cup of coffee and explain the numerous things that could go wrong with diving – this did not help my underlying fear… (He did also tell us, if you do everything properly then nothing will go wrong). Anyway, we were then kitted out with wet suits, BCD’s, tanks and regulators (oh, and about half a ton of weights to make us sink) and taken to the shallow waters just off the beach where we learnt how to breath as well as the absolute basics to diving.

One thing I must put in at this point is that ‘breathing’ is not as obvious as you would expect – every piece of me wanted to hold my breath and not breathe, which is an absolute NO NO when diving! It took my body a while to be convinced that the perfectly good tank of air on my back was for using….

So that afternoon, we heaved us and our kit onto the boat and were taken 10 minutes out of Port Andratx to a beautiful little bay called S’Aquillot where Matthias took us into the water and showed us the wonders of the underwater world. After 40 minutes in the water (which seemed like about 5) we re-emerged on the surface, both of us bowled over by the sight of the biggest Octopus ever and a Moray Eel. That afternoon we signed up for the PADI Open Water Course which then took over the second half of our holiday.

What started out as a one-day-see-if-you-like-it course, turned into a get-your-qualification-and-then-dive-as-much-as-you-can course! By the end of our holiday we had done 9 dives, been down to 18 metres, swam with barracudas, acted as victims for the rescue diver course, oh, and did a little bit of homework for our qualification! It was by far and way the best thing I have ever done.

So now that we are back in the UK I am desperately trying to sort out diving off the slightly chillier Dorset coast. I have already started ‘borrowing’ the office copy of Diver Magazine to learn more about the world of diving and am investigating the different dive centres locally.