Raring2go! Gulidford

We’re talking Children’s confidence with Guildford’s Flair Gymnastics Founder. Richard is a former South East of England gymnastics champion and TV and movie stuntman whose credits include Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and Dr. Who. He now speaks at specialist TED events about children’s social development. Richard Dwyer Flair Gymnastics Founder & CEO To learn more and get a special gift, go to GuildfordGymnastics.com Hello Richard. For parents whose child is working on building their confidence, what pointers can you give them? We are not born with high or low self confidence. It’s something that we all work on over time. Being confident in ourselves is a really important life skill to gain and one that has helped me throughout my childhood and into my TV and film career. Richard with Robert Downey Jr in ‘Sherlock Homes’ BUILDING CONFIDENT and RESILIENT CHILDREN As a starting point for a less confident child, I ask parents to discover what their child truly enjoys doing and encourage them to stick with it. Are ‘Goals’ important when it comes to building confidence? When working on confidence it’s important we start with praising a child’s efforts. We get way too focused on goals and results as adults and this gets passed onto our children. Rewarding effort gives a big confidence boost. So what is confidence? And why is it so vital to a child’s personal development? Confidence is a feeling. It comes when you know that you can do something really, really well. each time you praise and encourage a child, it gives them a feeling of confidence and strength which grows with each piece of subsequent feedback. Were you a naturally confident child? No, as a child I used to get nervous about most things, from school to after school clubs. It was my Mum who taught me how to become truly confident through teaching me to stick at something that I loved, to get really good at it and to embrace the good times and learn from the not so good times - my love was and still is gymnastics. Club hopping is the quickest way to flatten a child’s confidence. Drifting from one activity to another makes them become a “Jack of all trades and a master of NONE.” Stickability is a true confidence builder. Connect with Richard@rich.dwyer.uk @rich.dwyer.uk Raring2go! CLUBS, CLASSES & CAMPS 34 Richard as a Death Eater in ‘Harry Potter’ FROM STUNTMAN TO GYMNASTICS CLUB OWNER