The IACF team at Newark, Nottingham has had a weekend to shout about. We all know the expertise the team has at organising Antiques & Collectors Exhibitions, but what is less well known is the other talents the team, and various family members, exhibit. Last weekend saw no fewer than four national and international achievements for individuals associated with IACF.
Sore legs, aching muscles, tired fingers and strained eyes; all just par for the course for the IACF team in Newark, come a Monday morning.
Saturday saw Lynne Boby (Event Manager at IACF) run an ‘Ultra’ Marathon in the Vale of Belvoir. 26.5 gruelling miles up (and down) hills, through mud and over a multitude of obstacles. “My legs are very tired and aching!” Lynne said, “I ran it in a group with three other ladies, from the running club I belong to.”
Lynne took up running just over two years ago, and was lucky enough to be named her club’s ‘female runner of the year’. She regularly runs on roads, but had very little experience of running cross-country.
“Saturday night I did declare that I was never running again!” Lynne joked, “However I did run again on Sunday. This was an amazing personal achievement for me and all proceeds from the entry fees went to the local school.”
Lynne has taken part in over 100 Park Runs to date, and now mentors other runners. Lynne’s next big run will be the Liverpool half marathon, and she has been lucky enough to get a ballot place for the Great North Run, which is something she is really looking forward to.
Another athlete, this time over a much shorter distance, though at a truly elite level, is Amy Hunt, the daughter of IACF Operational Assistant Claire Hunt. Amy is a 60m sprinter and during a competition at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield over the weekend, she excelled to a ‘Championship Best performance’ in the English Indoor Championships in a time of 7.43s.
Amy is no stranger to records and medals. This year alone she has become: English Indoor 60m Champion under 17 women; Nationally ranked 1st in UK at 60m for under 17 women; Championship Best performance in English Indoor Champs at 60m, and she is 3rd in the all time ranking at 60m for under 17 women. This is made all the more impressive by the fact that Amy is still only 14 years of age and is competing against young women 2 years older! Her previous achievements are considerable and there is no doubt that Amy will be a feature of athletics ‘Team GB’ in the future. Her next big event will be England V Wales at the National Indoor Athletics Centre Cardiff.
Rowing is something Team GB also does extraordinarily well, and Ashley Cowley, the 19 year old son of IACF Fairs Administrator Dawn Cowley, is well on his way to representing that exhalted team of athletes. Ashley started rowing at Newark rowing club at the age of 13 and is now a full time, elite athlete at Molesey Boat Club in the High Performance Squad. Ashley has already accumulated a long list of national titles including: England Lightweight Pair, 2016; England Junior Double, 2014; British Junior Champion, J18 Doubles; Junior Sculling Head, J17 Quad; British Junior Champion, J14 Doubles; National Schools Champion, J14 Doubles; English Indoor Rowing Champion – 2 x Gold medalist & Scottish Record Holder for Lightweight Men 500m 2015. If that list wasn’t impressive enough, Ashley broke the British 100m Record for Lightweight men age 19-29 in 15.7 seconds at Molesey Boat Club during a training session over the weekend!
This years Acadamy Awards Ceremony was not without its troubles. Bonny & Clyde duo Warren Beatty and Faye Dunnaway’s error in announcing the wrong winner of the Best Picture catagory may have captured the headlines and left more that a few angry and embarrassed faces, but Joe Mitchell (Event Administrator at IACF) rightly had cause to feel extremely proud of his contribution to the evening.
Since a young age Joe has always been interested in haute-couture and has developed his talents from hightly-skilled dressmaking, to the most detailed and exquisite beadwork and embroidery. Pieces of his work have been used by the Parisian couture house Schiaparelli and featured in Vogue. He has also produced work for Warner Brothers. A golden shawl that Joe embellished was worn by Eddie Redmayne in the film ‘The Danish Girl’ but his proudest achievement (being a dedicated fan of the novels) have been two pieces that featured in the Harry Potter film ‘Fantastic Beasts’ – a stunning beaded dress worn by the heroine, Tina Goldstein, and the golden ‘thunderbird’ on her jacket which was the last shot of the film. Joe described meeting the Oscar winner, Colleen Atwood, during preparations for the film, as one of the most exciting moments in his life.
“I just kind of do what grannies used to do, but now people don’t have that kind of hobby, I guess. It takes a very long time to do, the dress had about 200 hours of work on it, done at breakneck speed to make the deadline.” Joe said of the dress he made for the film.
“The hardest thing was keeping it secret and not freaking out when I got to meet the people involved in the films!”
Joe can’t disclose the next piece he is working on, because if he did; he’d have to kill us!
All of these activities take place around the busy Fair schedule run by the IACF team. The next fair will be Ardingly on Thursday 7th and Friday 8th March and following that Shepton Mallet from Friday 10th – Sunday 12th March.
For more details go to www.iacf.co.uk
Grant Nicholas | Marketing & Communications Officer for IACF | grant.nicholas@iacf.co.uk
