Islington celebrates local GLL Sport Foundation athletes
The Islington GLL Sport Foundation (GSF) celebration event took place at the prestigious Islington Town Hall on Wednesday 6th September 2023. It was a fantastic evening with around 40 people in attendance.
The evening started with a welcome from the Mayor of Islington (Councillor Gary Heather). 14 athletes were presented with their award by Peter Bundey (GLL Chief Executive & Chair of GLL Sport Foundation) and the Mayor. Each athlete’s achievements and goals were read out to the audience as they went up to collect their award.
Following the presentation a Q&A was conducted with 4 achievement level athletes (ranked top 8 in Great Britain and Northern Ireland for their sport). This included Amy Holder (discus), Montana Jackson (triple jump), Maria Chart (fencing) and Lily Mills (tennis). The athletes spoke about their achievements, challenges and gave advice on competing at a high level.
Mikael Kiviniemi, Community Sports Manager for GLL said “Congratulations to all of the athletes who received an award. It is great to be able to support talented local athletes and help to alleviate some of their training costs. GSF in Islington currently supports 36 athletes to the value of £21,800 (£19,800 in free memberships and £2,000 cash). 89% of supported athletes receive no other funding”.
The GLL Sport Foundation celebrates its 15th year in 2023 and it is the UK’s largest independent athlete award programme which has so far contributed over £13m to help over 24,000 athletes on their sporting journey.
Over the past 15 years, GLL Sport Foundation supported athletes have excelled in major competitions and have gained 76 Olympic and Paralympic medals and 77 Commonwealth Games medals. Previous holders of GSF awards include Darryl Neita (athletics), Anna Hursey (table tennis), Charlotte Worthington (BMX), Alex Yee (triathlon), boxers Anthony Joshua, Aiden and Michaela Walsh, divers Tom Daley, Matty Lee and Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix, swimmers Tully Kearney, Susie Rodgers, Tom Dean and Ellie Simmons.
The next round of applications will open in December 2023, for more information please visit - https://www.gllsportfoundation.org/