Meet the team:
TOM HARWOOD - head of FOUNDATION
Tom joined the charity in its infancy in April 2020. Tom is responsible for leading the Foundation’s strategic aims with staff, trustees and external partners. As well as identifying areas of growth and advocating for the impact we have locally, Tom also oversees our fundraising strategy and charity governance.
Tom has over 12 years of experience in the local sport and charity sector, delivering on a number of different national programmes across Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire in community settings and schools. Growing up a Blues fan, Tom is passionate about the impact Blues Foundation has on communities and how the power of sport can enhance peoples lives.
Email: tom@bluesfoundation.org.uk
Ben Wiggins - Community Rugby Manager
Ben joins the team after working for 4 years at the Saracens Foundation where he worked on numerous projects which focused on coaching primary and secondary school children. Ben studied at North Herts College where he earned a Distinction* in sports studies where he discovered a passion for coaching.
In 2022 Ben was selected to play rugby for Denmark national side alongside playing for his childhood club Hitchin RFC. Ben has taken on the role as Community rugby manager and hopes to help grow the sport in both schools and within our local community rugby clubs.
Email: ben@bluesfoundation.org.uk
Mike Adamson - Fundraising Manager
Mike joins the Blues foundation after almost 40 years within the banking profession during much of his time was spent working alongside the business community. After 18 months in retirement, he now has taken up the role of helping the Foundation further connect with the Business community and help raise greater awareness of our work.
In his early years, Mike was a keen sportsman, although playing and watching rugby was always his lead passion. He can still be seen watching the Blues most Saturday’s. He’s a huge fan of the work the Foundation do and the value it can have on the lives of young people and is looking forward to connecting with you to see how you can help us grow.
Email: mike@bluesfoundation.org.uk
Aaron Colbert - Outreach Manager
Aaron joins the team after working for several years in the leisure industry where he worked on several community based projects focusing on making the leisure centres more inclusive for local residents. Aaron also has coaching experience in primary and secondary school settings as well as a year spent coaching in America.
A keen rugby and sport enthusiast Aaron hopes to use the power of rugby and sport to empower local young people to be the best version of themselves. With qualifications relating to fitness and exercise on referral Aaron is keen to use rugby to make Bedford a much more active and healthy place!
Email: aaron@bluesfoundation.org.uk
Joshua Dunne - Rugby Development Officer
Josh joins Blues Foundation following three years of professional rugby with Connacht Rugby. Having successfully come through the Irish Qualified system as a school boy and achieving representative honours with Ireland U18s the opportunity came knocking to sign with the west of Ireland province. Within this spell he went on to win further international representation in the green jersey at U20s.
Josh then spent time as a sports assistant at Eton College, cementing his passion in coaching and working with young people. Josh is excited to move into a rugby specific coaching role and will focus on supporting community clubs and school rugby delivery.
Email - josh@bluesfoundation.org.uk
Joe Howard - Rugby Development Officer
Joe joins the Blues foundation and Bedford Blues following on from 3 years of professional rugby at the premiership side Gloucester and 1 year at the championship side Hartpury RFC. Joe has been capped at England U18 and U19 level as well as vice captaining England University Students.
During Joe's time at Gloucester he completed a degree in Sports Business Management. Alongside his short spell playing in championship Joe worked as a FE Sessional Lecturer and Coach at Hartpury college. Along with working for the foundation Joe is currently signed as a player for Bedford Blues.
email - joe@bluesfoundation.org.uk
Larissa Clarke - Project Support Officer
With a background in health, fitness and community engagement Larissa is passionate about the power of sport for good and believes that an active lifestyle has the ability to improve lives and empower people of all ages to find their potential and thrive.
Her role at The Foundation is to support the range of projects offered to the community; making sport accessible, appealing and enjoyable for all. Larissa’s 20 years experience as a health and well-being coach and working in the local Parks and Countryside team has created a love of being outdoors, keeping active and encouraging others to realise the benefits of this and impact on their lives.
Email: larissa@bluesfoundation.org.uk
Ashley - Sport and Inclusion Mentor
Ashley is responsible for supporting the delivery and development of the Tackle Life project, as well as supporting the Ability Blues project. Ashley brings experience from various industries and personal experiences. Ashley has a passion for being active and volunteering within community sports inspired him to drastically change careers.
Ashley worked in a Pastoral role in an Education setting for a number of years. In this role he helped to support a wide variety of young people through various challenges and heling them to realise their potential. Prior to joining Blues Foundation Ashley worked for a local disability charity where he was able to continue his work in empowering some of the most disadvantaged people in society to maintain a positive path in their lives.
Email: ashley@bluesfoundation.org.uk
Tom Bailey - Community Rugby Apprentice
Tom has been working with Blues Foundation and Bedford Blues as a community coach for over two years and also leads our matchday activation at Goldington Road.
Tom is responsible for our community coaching sessions on matchday, as well as our guard of honour and is passionate about giving each junior team the best matchday experience as possible.
Email: tomb@bluesfoundation.org.uk
Want to join our team?
We are always keen to hear from talented people. Please take a look at the link for our current vacancies or for a speculative application here.