News

05/03/2010 News! Toby Box: "DKH Legacy Trust Changed My Life"

Toby competed during the 1990's over 100m and 200m and became European Under 23 100m Champion in 1994.  He represented Great Britain at the European Championships in Helsinki and was a Commonwealth Games Bronze medallist with England's 4x100m relay team in Victoria, Canada.
 
Toby recently got a job at CBRE, the World’s leading property consultancy, as a Graduate Surveyor through our partner Sport2Business. He contacted DKH Legacy Trust in March 2009.
 
What were you doing before you contacted DKH Legacy Trust in March 2009?
I was running my own franchise which was going to come to an end in August 2009. So I had started looking around for new opportunities, I tried out the sport sector route, but it didn’t work out.  My contact with the DKH Legacy Trust came at exactly the right time.
 
How did you hear about the Trust?
I saw Dame Kelly, speaking on the Daily Politics Show in March 2009, it sounded like a fantastic Charity, so I looked it up on the internet, called Franki the Sports Performer Coordinator and got an invite to their National conference.
 
How did the Trust help you get this role?
The Trust put me in contact with my recruiters Sport2Business, a talent management company and Andy Graham, a DKH Legacy Trust Business Mentor helped me with interview skills practice and preparation.
 
Despite having had 7 years experience in the Property Sector after my retirement from athletics, I never thought I would have the chance to be a Surveyor because you usually need a relevant degree, and mine is in Sport and Leisure management. I doubt I would ever have been able to get into this role any other way.
 
Basically life changing stuff!
 
Describe the process to us.
At the DKH Legacy Trust National Conference Networking Evening, I met Sport2Business, one of the Trust’s partners. Later on in the year, Sport2Business arranged an Introduction Day designed for us to discover more about the company.  From there, I was put into the graduate interview process, had my Assessment Days and Interviews in December/January time, and received the job offer at the start of February.
 
The Sport2Business/DKH Legacy Trust Networking Evening in November was also really useful, because CBRE had a stand there, so I was able to find out a lot more about the company.
 
Tell us about the job and training?
I’m being taken on as a Graduate Surveyor. 
 
The personal development is second to none. Because I don’t have the relevant RICS degree, CBRE are going to train me up and sponsor me through a professional qualification as well as an MSc in Real Estate, so in 3 years I will be a fully qualified Surveyor for the World’s largest property consultancy!
 
Any negatives?
Loads of learning, tough work, plenty of study. But all totally worth it!
 
What would you say to someone thinking about joining DKH Legacy Trust?
Being involved with the Trust has been a life changing experience for me. It really opened doors for me, and showed me all the transferable skills I had as an athlete which could be used in workplace. It is really important to take individually responsibility for your path and grab opportunities with both hands.

To find out more about the National Conference, click here.