Peter Scott
As general manager of The Atlas Foundation, Peter has the perfect outlet for his lifelong passion for the transformative role that recreation and nutrition can play in a child’s development. 20 years’ hands-on dedication to various coaching and management roles at a local rugby club have given Peter a broad appreciation of the positive power of sport within our communities. He also volunteers for a number of children’s charities and community initiatives which focus on keeping youngsters active, fed and engaged during school holidays. Alongside this, Peter is currently enthusiastically involved as an age group manager as his local rugby club, and is a companion for the elderly in his local community.
Amy Atkinson
Amy has a 26-year career spanning education, languages, sport, mentoring, and mental health. With a PhD and MA from King’s College London in Modern Foreign Languages Education and Psycho-Social Linguistics, she has worked across schools, universities, rugby clubs, and prisons. Formerly Head of MFL at a large boys’ school in South London, she later expanded her qualifications in TEFL, yoga, and rugby coaching. An England Rugby Leadership in Union graduate and mentor, Amy supports female university leaders through the RFU Legacy Programme and runs Surrey’s Rugby United Programme to promote inclusion among under-represented male groups. A qualified coach for over 10 years, she has received RFU awards for inclusion and volunteering, and became the first female Chair of her London rugby club, where she also founded its girls' section. An alumna of Newnham College, Cambridge, Amy now serves as co-president of the Newnham Associates, mentoring young women—particularly those from under-represented backgrounds—through the application process and university life.
Garry Gordon
Garry has led and developed businesses in retail and technology for a number of years, but has made time to ensure he maintains a healthy work/life balance, mainly through sport, principally rugby. Having played in Ireland and England, he has the taken the well-worn path of youth coach, director of rugby, then chairman at East Grinstead Rugby Club – and firmly believes he played his last game last year. Garry also runs the EGRFC Sunshine Sevens events, now in their sixty-sixth year raising money for local disadvantaged children’s charities. He has always worked in the development of youth rugby in the clubs he has been with. Having worked closely with Matt Ratana, head coach at EGRFC, Garry saw first-hand Matt’s brilliance in mentoring young people: making boys and girls believe that they can develop to be the best that they can be, utilising the discipline and team spirit of rugby. The very ethos he places at the heart of TackleLondon’s mentoring of young people on their journey through school and onwards to join the greater rugby club family.
Dan Wooler
Following a rugby career at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, where he was largely out of his depth, Dan completed his playing days with Chew Valley. Here, with his sons Freddie and Joe in the minis, he threw himself into coaching. It was in the Chew community that, alongside like-minded club colleagues, he was inspired by witnessing the dramatically positive difference that a healthy and supportive sporting environment could make to youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds. Thus the star* Scheme was conceived and created. As chair of trustees Dan now oversees its rapid growth, the long evenings and endless miles only fueling his tireless resolve to bring star*’s powerful message to as many communities as possible. It is the same irrepressible energy that will see him row the Atlantic next year to raise funds and awareness.
Sally Hoddell
Having been central to the Atlas Foundation team since 2017, Sally brings to TackleLondon considerable experience and expertise in a wide range of disciplines. Since her teenage years, she has been involved as a volunteer in a variety of roles for a number of local sporting and children’s charitable organisations. Sally remains passionate about the importance of child participation in sports, having directly witnessed the significant difference that sport can make to a child’s development. Alongside her work for Atlas and TackleLondon, Sally herself is currently actively involved with her local football and taekwondo clubs, in addition to busy family weekends with her two young daughters.
Ellie Yarwood
Ellie comes from a family with a fostering background, which has shaped her deep understanding of the positive impact sport — particularly rugby — can have on young people’s lives. She studied Sport and Business through the Open University, combining academic insight with hands-on experience to support youth development through sport. Ellie spent 3 years as a partner at Rugbytots Winchester LLP, having worked her way from assistant coach to head coach in her local area franchise. Ellie has spent the last seven years coaching across schools, Rugbytots programmes, and SEN camps, often working one-on-one with young people. Her passion lies in using sport as a tool for building confidence, resilience, and connection, especially for those who need it most.
Caitlin Clark
Caitlin first joined the TackleLondon team during her industrial placement year, where she worked as Marketing and Communications Officer for The Atlas Foundation and as Parliamentary Assistant to Lord Addington. She now continues her work with TackleLondon while completing a degree in English Literature with Creative Writing at Newcastle University. Passionate about youth empowerment and social equity, Caitlin has supported a range of children’s organisations dedicated to improving wellbeing and reducing socio-economic barriers. Her background as a children’s football coach and volunteering for girls’ groups has deepened her belief in the value of inclusive, educational activities that offer young people safe, supportive spaces to grow; values that sit at the core of TackleLondon’s mission.
Paul Murphy
35 seasons (and counting) heavily involved, both playing and in administration, at several London rugby clubs have reinforced Murph’s passionate belief that the benefits of a supportive sporting environment extend far beyond the pitch and the clubhouse. He never fails to be inspired by how dramatically youngsters can flourish when given the means and encouragement to do so, and believes this opportunity should be freely available to all. He now focuses this energy on getting the TackleLondon message to a rapidly-growing audience, overseeing our content and media relations, as engagement with our projects grows rapidly. Away from his work as a freelance writer, Murph enjoys trad music, hiking and kayaking, and is still trying to work out how he somehow ended up as an All-Ireland champion in indoor rowing.
Dr. Nicholas Garrick
Teacher, school leader and consultant, Nicholas is committed to exploring how people think about learning, teaching and research. An early years and primary school teacher and leader of 23 years, he continues to lead and support a range of schools in the UK, alongside organisations and governments in post-conflict and post-disaster countries including Afghanistan, Colombia, Sri Lanka and Zambia. As a school leader and consultant, he enables others to seek solutions, and considers creativity, curiosity and enquiry as essential to both leading and learning. As a researcher, he sees Grounded Theory and clean language as the foundation to understanding the impact the star* Scheme has on young people and those that support them. He also runs a gin distillery.
Sean Morgan
Sean has 25 years’ experience as a business leader in financial services, financial technology, workplace education (preparing young people for work) and the educational travel sector for young people (residential summer schools). He thrives as a builder of diverse multicultural companies with happy, motivated and productive teams. As a qualified leadership and executive business coaching practitioner, he has delivered personal development programmes to school leavers to help them in their transition to the workplace. A committed and competitive rugby player who exemplifies the phrase “never too old to learn new skills”, he aspires to be an excellent role model to younger teammates both on and off the pitch. Sean is fully focused on bringing to TackleLondon the prodigious drive and vision which has been the hallmark of his leadership of the Matt Ratana Rugby Foundation.