Enfield host second GSF Event in partnership with Enfield London Youth Games.
On Monday 14th July, Enfield Partnership held its second GLL sports foundation awards evening to highlight the achievements and successes of local talented athletes from across the partnership. To highlight the emerging sporting achievements of the borough, medallists from the Enfield London Youth games teams, were also invited along to participate and be awarded on the evening.
Enfield were most fortunate to have 39 athletes join the Enfield GSF family for 2025, an increase of just over 39% year on year. The 39 supported athletes have received a combined total of £25,400. £2,350 of this has been in cash support and £23,050 in kind support, with 85% of Enfield supported athletes receiving no other central funding outside of GSF support. 72% of athletes on the scheme this year are under 21, 44% are under 16 and 8% of athletes have a disability.
A total of 144 guests were invited to the event including GSF athletes and their guests as well as London Youth games finalists, Council colleagues, GLL colleague as well as a host of local sports coaches, clubs and most importantly Enfield Cabinet members.
23 GSF Athletes were in attendance with 38 guests alongside 19 attendees from the Enfield London Youth games teams and their coaches. In total the evening welcomed just over 100 people across the entirety of the evening. In attendance from Enfield council, was Leader of the council Councillor Ergin Erbil and Councillor Sabri Ozaydin, cabinet member for Environment and placemaking. Local authority colleagues were also in attendance including Peter Grimster - Active Wellbeing Manager, Frank Kain - Active through Football Manager, Aliya Siddique - Marketing and Audience Development Manager, Cheryl Wilson, Krystal Burton and presenting alongside the community team Grace Alleyne - Youth Sport Manager. Chairman for London youth games Geoff Thompson MBE and Katy Berry interim CEO for the games were also in attendance.
In attendance from GLL was Colin Coughtrey - National Community Engagement Manager, Emma Lewis - National aquatics manager, Rebecca Gediking - Head of libraries, Matt Perren -Head of Service, Vishal Karia Partnership Manager for Enfield and all Senior Enfield colleagues.
The evening commenced with a dynamic jujitsu demonstration, setting an engaging and energetic tone for the proceedings. Attendees were then welcomed officially by Leader of the council, Councillor Ergin who spoke of the importance of youth sport and intervention in Enfield followed by Geoff Thompson delivering an inspiring introduction to London Youth Games and importance of support for the games. Colin Coughtrey led the Gll sport foundation segment of the evening, followed by an Enfield specific GSF athlete update from Sabrina and Dominic, the community sports team, highlighting the support and scale of which the support is delivered in Enfield.
See Link to video: https://vimeo.com/1099472953/9f54c81f03?share=copy
Led By Grace Alleyne, the evening moved into the LYG Awards for the finalists and medallists of this years London youth games, followed by the GSF Awards section of the evening delivered by Sabrina and Dominic.
To conclude the evening and a key highlight of the event was an insightful Q&A session with Olympic silver & bronze medallist Desiree Henry. Questions were initially delivered by four upcoming Enfield athletes, followed quickly by questions from the audience, Desiree spoke of Her reflections on her athletic career, the challenges she overcame, and the importance of grassroots support, all of which offered invaluable inspiration to all in attendance, particularly the young athletes striving to follow in her footsteps. Desiree also spoke passionately about the impact the GLL Sport Foundation had in her career and how support from the scheme has shaped her career and journey to today.
Patrons of the evening were then treated to a meal and drinks following the event to conclude the awards ceremony.
Feedback from the event has been fantastic from both attendees and council colleagues. On parent commented:
"Just a very quick one to say a HUGE thank you for the awards ceremony yesterday. It was absolutely amazing.
The whole evening from start to finish was so professional - we could have been at BBC Sports Personality of the Year! There was such a lovely, joyful atmosphere in the room and the speakers were incredibly inspiring (Desiree was brilliant- what great idea to get the young athletes to interview her!).
The young people of Enfield are so lucky to have the opportunity to attend something like this. I’m sure, just like Alice, they all left buoyed up and encouraged. I can’t imagine how much planning and hard work must go into making something like that happen, so thank you!"
All the best,
James
(Alice’s dad)
The GLL Sport foundation event exemplified GLL’s continued commitment to investing in the future of sport, recognising excellence, and fostering inclusive pathways for young people to achieve their full potential. My sincere thanks to all who contributed to making the evening a resounding success including GLL Staff, Enfield Council colleagues and local organisations Taste of Passion and The Dugdale Arts Centre.