Making a positive impact in the community and for the environment

BY PHIL GEE

In the first in our series we look at Digger Barnes and his acts of human kindness. Digger is the founder and chief instructor of Storm Family Martial Arts. He runs academies in Woodley, Windsor, Bracknell, Warfield, Wokingham, Maidenhead and Farnborough. The classes help children build character and show kindness to others.

He proudly won silver at the World United Martial Arts Federation (WUMA) European Kickboxing Championship held in Birmingham, and back in September 2023, Digger was selected for Team GB and competed in the World

Championships in Greece.

He said: “That was my final fight and now I’m retired from competition." Digger has since found other projects, besides his academies, to keep himself busy.

One project in particular is Storm Plant 500+ Trees. Each month Digger and his team hold class themes, which are designed to encourage his students to make a positive impact on their local community.

The group had something global in mind, so they planted one tree for each of them (over 500 of their students helped with this global conservation effort). Each student received a certificate, on recycled paper, of their personal tree. And from now on, every student who joins Storm will have a tree planted for them in the UK, Europe, South America or Africa. The group will spread them globally through their partner, One Tree Planted.

Digger runs classes weekly and you can get involved. For more information on Digger and his Storm Plant 500+ Tree project visit www.sfma.co.uk

Stay tuned to see what else Digger is up to in our next edition.