Champion boxer inspires Wisbech students on awards night

A champion boxer gave tips on resilience and discipline when he spoke to Wisbech students at an end-of-term awards night.

Jordan Gill, former European and Commonwealth featherweight champion told the Thomas Clarkson Academy pupils that education is important along with following a plan to future success.

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Jordan, of Chatteris, who won 27 of his 30 professional contests, spoke at the first Achievement Evening held at the academy since the pandemic.

“If you have got something to work towards, you are always one step ahead and need to keep striving to be the best,” he said, adding that he was in training for a fight in October, which would be his first for a year.

A total of 83 awards were announced across all the year groups and faculties at the academy.

Principal Richard Scott said the evening was a time to recognise the resilience and hard work of students who had been faced with the pandemic at a crucial time of their education and who were learning remotely for periods of time.

“I have to remind myself how much disruption it caused and that our young people had it for 18 months to two years. At the time it was 20 or 30 per cent of their education. 

“Keep on doing what you are doing because you are doing the right thing,  and you will go far. You never know what’s around the corner and this evening is about your hard work,” he said.

Guests at the award ceremony included the Mayor of Wisbech Peter Human who presented the awards with  his wife, Mayoress Janet Tanfield. Family and supporters of the students also filled the school’s theatre.

Among the winning students were Gaby Maurice, who recently returned to school after being treated for cancer, and Bella Featherstone-Dance who is a gold medal-winning trampolinist.