GLL Sport Foundation Awards 2023
Carterton Leisure Centre was transformed into a Hollywood-style auditorium on Thursday 15th June – complete with stage, theatrical lighting, a professional singer and canapes – for the GSF 2023 West Oxfordshire Sports Awards.
More than eighty people attended the event to celebrate the local sporting talent and the support offered by the GLL Sports Foundation. 45 athletes are benefiting from £27,550 worth of funding with 84% of the athletes not receiving any other central funding. The support covers 17 different sports and has a high uptake from younger athletes with 71% being aged under 21 and 42% aged under 16.
Medals and certificates were presented to young athletes from disciplines as diverse as boxing, badminton and bowls while guest speaker Cassandra Patten - an Olympic Bronze medallist in the 10km open water competition – kept the crowd entertained.
Guests from West Oxfordshire Council included Joy Aitman (Stronger Healthy Communities Cabinet member) and Andrew Prosser (Climate Change Cabinet member for the Green Party) alongside a number of GLL executives such as Gary Starkey, Kate Mulrey and Sam Strutt.
The event was particularly special as the GSF celebrated its 15th year and continues to be the largest independent athlete support programme in the UK. This year it is supporting 25,890 athletes nationally to the value of £14,090,630 across 117 sports.
The evening was a great success with feedback from athletes and their families including –
“We really appreciate all the work that goes into arranging such an evening. We thought Cassandra was a very inspiring guest speaker.”
“We also send our thanks to GSF as a whole for the continued support given to both of our sons.”
We wish the athletes all the best on their sporting journeys this year.