With just under one year to go until the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Brodie spoke to insideworldparasport about his organisation's involvement with them and their work promoting the Paralympic Movement.

"They have amazing skill but the mental fortitude as well, the way they prepare," Brodie said of Paralympic athletes.

"Paralympians I've met are on a different level, it's how positive they are about life.

"They have an amazingly positive outlook on life.

Cadbury have six Olympic and Paralympic Games ambassadors: sprint kayak Olympic gold medallist Tim Brabants, double Olympic gold medal winning freestyle swimmer Rebecca Adlington, three time BMX world champion Shanaze Reade, double European gold medal winning wheelchair rugby star Mandip Sehmi, IPC World Athletics gold medal winning athlete Richard Whitehead and wheelchair tennis hopeful Jordanne Whiley.

Brodie explained why Cadbury had chosen the thinking behind bringing the six on board as part of their London 2012 team.

"Rebecca is a known gold medallist, a great hope for 2012 and barring injury I'm sure she'll do brilliantly," he said.

"She is the girl next door, she loves Cadbury.

"[Mandip] is a really engaging guy, a great story to tell.

"We invited Shanaze to an event in Crewe and you expect an athlete to turn up for an hour but she stayed all day, having fun and getting involved.

"You will not meet a more charming, intelligent man than Tim Brabants - he's a doctor so he's the complete package.

"When [Jordanne Whiley (pictured)] was asked what her favourite asset was she said 'my boobs' and at that moment I said we have to go and get her.

"She's got a great personality, her father was an Olympian, she's an incredibly lovely person, very engaging and a fabulous sportsperson.

"Whitehead is an unassuming guy but is an incredible sportsman.

"They're all very of the brand."

Cadbury is also involved with Paralympic Potential Days, which are run by the British Paralympic Association, and for Brodie their involvement with these events goes far beyond simply finding the next great British Paralympic hopes.

"It's an incredibly uplifting experience, there will be people who have had an accident and will be encouraged to see if there is something which could be of interest to them," he explained.

"There were two young lads who came in who had meningitis, both were 12, they didn't know each other before.

"They came with their shoulders down and at the end of the day they'd been funnelled into wheelchair tennis with a view to be part of an academy as they had an innate talent for it.

"The look on their faces and their parents' faces when they left would break your heart."

Cadbury's Spots v Stripes campaign has been a major success across the UK, and the "Minute To Win It" competition one of the most popular aspects of the initiative, Brodie claimed.

The inspiration for "Minute To Win It", which in Brodie's words uses "everyday people having everyday fun with everyday objects," came from the United States, and is designed to bring play to the mainstream.

"When you're a kid you learn everything through play," he said.

"In this country we are almost encouraged to unlearn playful behaviour.

"How often do people say stop messing about at school?

"The problem with that is that it makes it less easy to interact, part of our DNA is interaction through play, whether it's chatting someone up or making friends.

"What we want to do is get people interested in play."

Research commissioned by Cadbury has shown that almost 20 per cent of the population have no one to play games with, and almost one in every two people claim not to have the time to do so.

The "Minute To Win It" campaign looks to counter this by encouraging people to take part in games around the house with everyday objects, and which only take a minute.

Brodie also defended Cadbury involvement in the Olympics, brushing aside the suggestion that a company best known for creating chocolate should not be sponsoring an event which looks to encourage people to be healthy and active.

"Confectionary as a category has been involved in the Olympics for donkeys years and they would not exist in the format they are in if it was not for that," he said.

"We haven't gone out there to sell millions of chocolate bars, we're trying to build brand love.

"If we were cynical, it would have to be a short term bet, but there are very few people who sponsor an Olympics and get short term value out of it.

"We are the official treat provider - it wouldn't be a treat if you had it all the time."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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June 2011: ParalympicsGB and Cadbury stage latest Paralympic Potential Day at Surrey Sports Park
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