I wanted to share with you a letter I wrote and sent to the staff at Sport Wales, who I was lucky enough to work alongside during my relatively brief time with the organisation. I was and am continually grateful for all of their support, hard work, passion, professionalism and commitment to the cause. Apart from being prevented from doing the job I was asked to do, I also didn’t get the chance to tell the staff how much I appreciated all of their efforts to support me. The letter below was sent to all staff following my dismissal.

Dear All Staff:

On behalf of my family and myself I want to thank you all for your warmth, honesty and professionalism over the past nine months. It has been a difficult journey for all, but one thing I will always remember is your passion, pride and commitment to sport and physical activity in Wales, alongside your honesty.

I am deeply sorry that my time with Sport Wales has ended in this manner. As many of you will know, my primary focus during my tenure was to significantly grow take-up and engagement in physical activity, throughout Wales. I believe it has to become much more community focused, whilst still retaining a key element of supporting and championing elite sport success.

I am still committed to providing all of the support necessary, if possible, to help achieve a vision of an active Wales, and I am sure our paths will cross at some point in the future.

Lastly, I have extremely fond memories of meeting and talking with you, and more importantly listening to you and feeling a level of passion only found in sport.

I wish you all the very best for the future and want to ensure you that I will continue to fight for the change that I believe is necessary and for your empowerment as an organisation. I am sure the fresh leadership at Sport Wales will work towards creating a successful and positive outcome.

Thank you, again, for all of your support, your friendship, passion and time.

Sincerely,

Dr. Paul T. Thomas