Memory Lane Cakes, one of Cardiff’s largest employers, is to support the newly formed Richard Vaughan Badminton Academy with the goal of producing the Olympic and Commonwealth champions of the future.

The Academy has been set up by Richard Vaughan, Britain’s top men’s singles player, to use his experience and access to world class coaches to build a national centre of excellence for badminton allowing talented young players from Wales the chance to achieve international success. Memory Lane Cakes will become the principal sponsor of the Academy.
Memory Lane Cakes - Press Shoot

The goal of the Academy is to identify and nurture badminton players from Wales that have the characteristics to make it to the highest echelons of the sport, creating the potential for these young players to win medals in senior international competitions including the 2012 Olympics in London.

Richard Vaughan was born and brought up in South Wales and has represented Great Britain at the Sydney and Athens Olympic Games. He will leave shortly to represent Wales in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, his chances being boosted by last week’s victory in the Men’s Singles event at the prestigious Mauritius Open.

Vaughan is understandably delighted with the sponsorship:

“Memory Lane’s support is a tremendous boost for the Academy; in addition to helping us identify and train the most promising youngsters, the sponsorship money will allow us to improve the coaching standards of all our coaches, to bring in outside sparring and quality foreign coaches and to ensure our young players have access to quality back up services such as physiotherapy in case of injury.

“Development of the young players will take sometime and, as badminton is a very competitive and demanding sport, there are no guarantees - however two of our young players, Rachel Thomas aged 16 and Kelly Blake aged 15, had their first senior caps two weeks ago, so it looks very promising.”

Dave Brooks, Chief Executive of Finsbury Food Group, the parent company of Memory Lane Cakes is pleased to be able to help Richard bring the Academy’s goals to fruition:

Memory Lane Cakes - Press Shoot

“I am delighted we have been able to sponsor the Academy.  Finsbury Food Group and its subsidiaries have a mission statement of Being the best at what we do.  Our commitment to excellence is mirrored in Richard’s philosophy and his goals for the Academy, but we recognise that sometimes commitment to excellence is not enough if it is not supported by investment. As a major employer in Cardiff we take our responsibility to the community very seriously and we are proud invest in initiatives that give young people in South Wales a chance to realise their potential. 

“We are committed to a long term programme of support for the Academy and hope in future years our support will be mirrored by the government and other regional and national funding bodies.  This is an important programme and it deserves support from as many people as possible.”