Archie Cleverley | HGV Technician in Ipswich
I have been at Chassis Cab for 6 years. I started as a HGV Apprentice, I graduated as a level three DAF Certified Technician. After 5 years of service I was lucky enough to receive a cheque as part of Chassis Cab's Apprentice Retention Programme.
I joined the gym to lose weight, and I lost 5 stone. After that I joined the gym where I now train (Fortitude Fitness in Ipswich).
It was the members of the gym community that got me into powerlifting.
I entered a competition with a few friends as a joke, and I actually did quite well. After that, I thought maybe I should take this up.
Tom Knapp is an online coach that coaches a lot of my friends at the gym. He has coached some international champions as well as being a national medallist himself, and he is part of Barbell Coalition, an online powerlifting coaching programme.
I attended a competition in September 2023 to qualify for junior nationals for Great Britain. Unfortunately, I didn't qualify on this occasion. I then competed in another competition in January 2024. This time I did qualify for the junior nationals and I came in 5th position. That then qualified me to get into the England Championships and I came first in that competition.
Winning the England Championship qualified me to get selected for the Commonwealth which is taking place in South Africa from 4th - 13th Oct 2024.
So far, everything has been fully funded by myself. However, I am now incredibly thankful that Chassis Cab, DAF, and Goldstar Transport are now my official sponsors.
They are taking care of my expenses and I will proudly be displaying their logos on my warm-up gear, which I will be wearing throughout the competition.