With less than a month to go, the Diane Modahl Sports Foundation (DMSF) is excited to announce that its star studded gala dinner at Hotel Football on Saturday 6th February is to be compered by non-other than BBC Presenter, Dan Walker. 

This year’s inductees into the City of Champions Hall of Fame in Manchester are double gold Olympic medallist Dame Kelly Holmes and England Netball Coach Tracey Neville MBE. Both inspirational sporting legends will be inducted by fellow Olympian Diane Modahl on behalf of the DMSF – where they’ll be presented with their coveted awards as well as taking part in an exclusive Q&A session with guests on the night. 

City of Champions is the brainchild of Diane Modahl who forged her own successful athletics career from her home city of Manchester. The event is a bi-annual celebration of the many great Champions from not only the sporting world, but of inspirational business people and leaders in their field who make a huge difference by inspiring lives and areas. The event is supported by many DMSF sponsors, with particular thanks to Kings Chambers and Nuffield Health.

Dan is a long-time supporter of the charity and has compared Diane’s previous events which celebrated inductions of the most decorated Olympic cyclist of all time Sir Chris Hoy, Premiership and England footballer Rio Ferdinand and Mike Summerbee – the Manchester City legend who made over 400 appearances for his club. Leaders of Manchester City Council have also been past recipients including Sir Howard Bernstein and Sir Richard Leese.

Dan said of his upcoming role: “I’m delighted Diane has asked me to compare the City of Champions 2016 gala dinner, and if past years are anything to go by it’s going to be a fantastic event. I’ll be auctioning off signed personal items of a number of sporting stars – including a pair of Dame Kelly Holmes very own spikes!

“I genuinely love comparing this event, but I also feel personally inspired by the wonderful Q&A sessions by the inductees – we’ve had laughter, tears and many a personal story shared and I can’t wait to hear all about Dame Kelly’s and Tracey’s personal experiences on how they’ve attained such success in their sporting fields.”

“I’ll also be congratulating Tracey – or I should say, Tracey Neville MBE – on her more than deserved title in the 2016 New Year Honours List. It’s set to be a magnificent event celebrating top flight talent and the raw passion of the DMSF participants – many of whom I’m sure are set to become our future Olympians.

“The DMSF is supporting our youngsters at grass root level and Diane has ensured she has a team of superb volunteers and international coaches to join her in offering a chance to those kids, who often come from disadvantaged areas, to shine in sport, education and life.”

Diane is the founder and CEO of the DMSF, a registered charity set up by the former international athlete, which gives young people access to world class coaching and coaches, with the aim of creating further Champions of the future, whether they be in the arena of sport, business, culture, politics or any other. She is especially committed to working with young people and schools in disadvantaged areas.

Diane commented: “Dan is just my dream compare and I’m thrilled he’s agreed to lead our City of Champions event once again. I’m so excited about the evening and can’t thank all those involved enough – from the DMSF youngsters who are beyond giddy, the fantastic DMSF team supporting me all the way, our longstanding sponsors and of course Dame Kelly Holmes and Tracey Neville MBE for their belief in our aspirations for the foundation and our future champions. Our charity ethos is to inspire young people in all aspects of their lives, so bringing cultural, sporting and business figures together in this way means we’ll not only raise more valuable funds, but help to reinforce that it is focus, discipline, commitment and resilience that is the winning formula to success.

“In addition to all mentioned, there will be a host of champions and sporting legends also attending who will provide more inspiring figures for DMSF participants to learn from.”

Tickets are selling fast, but there are a few remaining seats available for the dinner which will also be attended by famous faces from Manchester and beyond including soap stars, former inductees, business people and legendary sports stars. Prices start at £1000+VAT for a table of ten and single tickets are available for £125+VAT. Further information is available from: cityofchampionsdinner@journey9.com. 

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