Oliver Pratley and Maunside's trip to Speedo & the City Ground

Well a truley big day yesterday as Maunside took Oliver Pratley and his family to Nottingham for the day to visit Speedo HQ and Nottingham forest football club. 1st stop was speedo were Oliver was measured for his brand new kit to take to Taiwan in September and were we managed to have a game of pool and table football. In the design room we watched as the kit was made from scratch and personalised with Oliver's name on the kit. The swim shorts alone are worth around £170.00 which is truely fantastic. We was then met by one of the marketing directors who told us some of the history behind Speedo and why it is the very best for swimwear. We then gave various interviews for swimming magazines and The Nottingham evening post which Oliver was very excited about. Loads of pictures taken of Oliver in his new swim gear, cap and goggles again he could not wait to get in front of the camera. Speedo in total gave Oliver 2 pairs of swim shorts, A speedo bag full of kit, Goggles, swim caps, training clothing, towels, sweatbands signed photographs of Rebecca Addlington and Michael thelps and lots lots more of goodies. Around £800.00 worth of kit was kindly donated and we can not say thankyou enough for the kindness and warm welcome that all of the staff gave us. A really big thankyou as got to go to Betty Gillan at Speedo for arranging this.

Next stop was the home of Nottingham Forest football club - The City ground. Here we was met by Ben White from marketing who gave us all a truely warm welcome to the club. Oliver and his brother was both given goody bags containing loads of NFFC gear from Photo's, alarm clocks, stickers, team photographs, bags and much more. We set off on a wonderfull tour of the city ground were Ben gave us an insight into some amazing history of the club and some special behind the scenes insights. We was shown the trophy room, changing rooms, we all had a walk down the famous forest tunnel - This was an amazing experience walking through the tunnel onto the pitch knowing that many great footballing legends have walked through the same tunnel. Ben then kindly took a group photograph of us on pitchside. The whole experience was just fantastic. I dont think there was a single place within the city ground were Ben did'nt take us. After the tour Ben as kindly arranged to invite Oliver and the gang back to the City ground after Oliver wins in Taiwan. This is to watch Nottingham forest vs middlesbrough in October, Oliver will go on pitchside with the players and the manager and be introduced to thousands of fans. We have also been given a directors box for the game along with VIP treatment and a chance to have a photo session with the players. Oliver will then go into one of the Forest programmes and onto the official club website. Ben as kindly gave Mauniside radio a signed Nottingham Forest shirt to auction live on air to gain more funds for a remarkable cause. A really big thankyou as to go to Ben White for his kindness, support and making us feel welcome at the home of one of the greatest football teams in the country. We will be back at the city ground in October.