Athletes

ade adepitan - invacare ambassador 2010 

Having survived polio as a youngster, Ade has gone on to compete as a wheelchair basketball player on an international level and has a wealth of TV presenting experience.

2005 saw Ade participate in Beyond Boundaries a four part documentary series for BBC2, which took him on the trek of a lifetime across the rainforests, deserts, rivers and mountains of Nicaragua. 2006 saw Ade report for ITV1's The Boat Show from the Atlantic Ocean. Ade regularly reports for BBC1's Holiday series having travelled to France, scuba dived in Mexico, gone on safari in Kenya and the Gambia, skied in Canada and America and most recently reported from Bonaire and Curacao in the Caribbean.

Ade has just taken on a new challenge with his first principle acting role for BBC1's new drama, Desperados which airs on CBBC and will get a BBC1 airing later this year. He has also appeared in ITV1's Hardware and BBC1's Casualty. Using his sporting expertise Ade reports for BBC1's weekly Sportsround series. Previously he has covered the European Championships for BBC2's Grandstand, and hosted his own Documentary for Radio Five Live, A Pair of Trainers, which saw Ade follow the personal progress of two unlikely fitness candidates and has taken a personal look at the music and club scene in London for BBC's 1Xtra in Can Dance Will Dance. An instantly recognisable face Ade can be seen in the high profile idents for BBC1. He presented BBC's daily X-Change programme for the last five years, which saw him presenting, live in the studio and out on location.  Other credits include Tiger Tiger for Channel Five, where Ade reported on endangered species from around the globe.  Highlights included riding elephants while looking for tigers in India and swimming with sharks in Australia, while personal triumphs included overcoming his fear of water and night walks in the depths of the African jungle. He also presented Dream Ticket for LWT. This saw him exploring Jamaica and diving in the Seychelles.

Ade has done a number of high profile public speaking engagements including the launch of the 2012 Olympic bid at the Royal Opera House alongside Tony Blair. He works extensively in the UK giving motivational speeches to schools, charities and businesses including Visa, The Royal Mail and BUPA. In January 2005 Ade performed a poem with Stephen Fry which detailed the plight of children with disabilities at The Holocaust Memorial in Westminster Abbey. A regular contributor for Ouch Disability Magazine and the BBC sports website Ade is currently developing his passion for writing.

Ade has proved he is capable of a lot more than your ordinary presenter. He has represented Great Britain at the Olympics in Athens 2004 (Bronze) and Sydney 2000 plus competing in The European (Silver) and World Championships (Gold).

Ade's energy and enthusiasm comes through in everything he does, making him an ideal patron for such charities as the Association of Wheelchair Children and Scope. He is an Ambassador for London's 2012 Olympic bid, features in their high profile poster campaign and was an integral part of the delegation that went to Singapore to present to the Olympic committee to help bring the games to London. Last year Ade was given an honorary Doctorate by Loughborough University and has had the honour of being awarded an MBE for his contribution to disabled sport in last year's Queen's Birthday Honours. 2007 saw Ade take on the challenge of the London Marathon in aid of Wheelpower and The Brain and Spine Foundation.

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