Sports enthusiast and qualified sports coach, Adam Sharp, has invested his inheritance from his two grandmothers to set up his dream business, Rise St Albans, Welwyn & Hatfield, delivering our adapted sports sessions in a range of health, social care and community settings in the area, including care homes.
Adam (20 years old) was diagnosed with a brain tumour at the age of 4 and underwent four surgeries and two years of chemotherapy as a child and more treatment since. He now owns the Rise St Albans franchise and runs it alongside his mother, Jos.
Keen on sports and always pushing himself despite physical limitations due to the tumour, Adam did a GCSE and A-Level in Sport and went on to obtain a Sports Coaching HND qualification at college.
Once qualified, Adam started coaching table tennis at two local clubs and then volunteered to coach people living with Parkinson’s and absolutely loved it. He decided that he would like to coach people in care homes as he found working with older people very rewarding.
An ex-GP friend of Jos had seen a Rise adapted sports session delivered at a care home and suggested that Adam approach them to work for them as an activity lead.
A telephone enquiry to Rise HQ followed. It was during that call that Adam learned that Rise is a franchise business with territories available across the UK and he realised that he could actually buy his own Rise territory, thanks to money left to him by his grandmothers and have his own business.
Commenting, Jos said, “The rest, as they say, is history.
“During his studies, Adam had needed additional support and I took redundancy to be able to offer him the help he needed. Once Adam finished college, I was looking for a meaningful role that didn’t involve sitting behind a desk.
“So when he decided to set up Rise St Albans, it was the ideal opportunity for me to join him and it’s proved to be a great partnership.”
Picking up the story, Adam said, “Working with mum is ideal as she understands what I can and can’t do and we make a great team.
“I organise all the Rise sessions and take care of the music, quizzes and routine admin. Mum helps with scheduling and the accounts. Importantly she also runs the sessions with me and it works really well.”
Welcome to the team Adam and Jos – delighted to have you with us.
