The Active Southampton partnership are delighted to have a number of local heroes who help us to encourage the people of Southampton to be more active.

Roger Johnson

Roger is the sports presenter on South Today. He joined the team in 1997 and has since been reporting all the big sports stories in the south. Roger is also a representative of the Sport Hampshire & IOW advisory board and a regular supporter of activities and events in Southampton and Hampshire.

Roger Johnson was the Master of Ceremony for the launch of Active Southampton on 23rd January 2008.

His career highlights include Ellen MacArthur's record-breaking sailing performances - and presenting regional programmes from the Match of the Day studios when Southampton and Portsmouth reached the FA Cup Final.

Dee Caffari MBE

As the only female to sail solo, non-stop in both directions around the world, Dee added to her achievements in June 2009 by claiming the overall crewed monohull Round Britain and Ireland Speed Record.

With a passion for sport and exercise, Dee became an Ambassador for Active Southampton to aid the promotion of the "30 minutes of exercise a day" message.

Dee’s keen interest in health and fitness stems from her roots as a secondary school PE teacher, a career taken up after graduating from Leeds Metropolitan University.

Dee is also a champion of the Southampton Motiv8-14 project, and also managed to send a video message of support for the launch of Active Southampton from New Zealand.

Eric Donnelly

Eric Donnelly is a Platinum health and fitness member, who regularly uses the gym and swimming facilities at Bitterne Leisure Centre and has an inspiring story.

Eric is a long term sufferer of Multiple Sclerosis, which affects the central nervous system.  Only three years ago, Eric was confined to his wheelchair and relied on his wife heavily after being told by his doctors that there was little he could do to halt the progress of the disease.

Eric’s first trip to the leisure centre came when he went along for a swim having decided he had to do something to overcome the challenges to his health.

Since then Eric has worked with the fitness instructors at Bitterne to tailor a fitness programme that has helped him overcome some of the effects of his condition.

Eric is now a very popular gym member: he is an absolute inspiration to others and creates a great atmosphere within the gym. He currently attends the gym 5 days a week and attends a circuit class on a Wednesday afternoon. He has now currently started to walk with the aid of a walking frame and eventually intents to walk again without any assistance.

Peter Waterfield 

Peter is a British Olympic diver who specialises in the 10 metre platform event, both as solo competitor and in the synchronised event.

Peter started diving in 1990 and in 1994 synchronised diving became an official sport and Peter started diving with Leon Taylor from Sheffield.

Peter and Leon went on to win European and world medals, and came fourth in the Olympic Games in Sydney.  In 2002, Peter became the senior European champion, achieved a ranking of fourth in the world and scooped gold at the Commonwealth Games.

In 2004, Peter and Leon came second at the World Cup and they both qualified for the Olympics in Athens. At the Olympics Peter and Leon achieved the silver in the 10 metre synchronised diving event and Peter came fifth in the individual event.

Peter was present at the launch of Active Southampton and also attended other events including the 1st year anniversary event held at West Quay. Most recently, he launched the Olympic Poster Exhibition at Southampton City Art Gallery in the spring of 2009.

Jim Dowdall

Jim has always kept fit after a long career working as a carpenter and builder.

When he was 71 he had a mini- stroke and during his recovery was referred to Active Options.  At this point Jim claimed he one day hoped to run the London Marathon, something he says “raised a few eyebrows and caused a few laughs!”

Jim started going to Bitterne Leisure Centre and using the fitness suite for short workouts and has since been every week for the last ten years. In this period Jim has run eight London Marathons, and is running again next year. Jim offers inspiration to everyone out there about the potential to stay fit and active into your later years.