On the evening of 23rd July, GLL welcomed athletes from across the Royal Borough of Greenwich to celebrate the annual GLL Sport Foundation (GSF) awards at Sutcliffe Park Sports Centre.
The event acknowledged the success and achievements of Greenwich-based athletes who were recipients of support from the Foundation. The sporting guests of honour were an Olympian and Paralympian, JJ Webb and Susie Rodgers respectively, who took part in a question-and-answer session with GLL’s Area Community Sports Manager, Tony Brown. Twenty Greenwich-based athletes of all ages attended the event, representing a wide variety of sports from Taekwondo to synchronised swimming and everything in between.
The GLL Sport Foundation is the UK's largest independent athlete support programme. It is an organisation operated by charitable social enterprise GLL, created in 2008 to support talented athletes across the UK.
The GSF programme’s support extends to over 250 sports facilities, with athletes able to access financial support, free gym memberships, physiotherapy, and mental health assistance. Since the Foundation started, the supported athletes within the scheme have gained an incredible 76 Olympic and Paralympic medals and 77 Commonwealth Games medals.
In total, 100 athletes from across the Royal Borough of Greenwich received support from the GLL Sports Foundation in 2024 with 43% of athletes aged 21 or under, and 91% receiving no other funding. GLL transformed Sutcliffe Park Sports Centre into a glamorous venue, showcasing the wide breadth of sporting talent in the borough and highlighting the significant contributions from GLL, the GSF and all partners involved with the Foundation.
As well as inspiring athletes, attendees were also joined by Royal Borough of Greenwich Mayor, Councillor Jit Ranahbat, Councillor Ann-Marie Cousins and Councillor Rachel Taggart Ryan. GSF ambassador and Team GB sprint star Daryll Neita also sent in a video message from her training camp in Venice where she is preparing for the Paris Olympics.
GLL Partnership Manager for the Royal Borough of Greenwich had the following to say, ''We were once again delighted to host our annual GSF awards, which celebrates the incredible sporting talent we have across the borough. We are grateful to all the guests who attended the event, especially JJ Webb and Susie Rodgers, who took time out of their busy schedules to attend; their presence meant a great deal to the many young athletes in attendance on the night.”
Councillor Ann-Marie Cousins, Cabinet Member for Equality, Culture and Communities said: "The GLL Sports Foundation awards are a fantastic way of celebrating the inspirational achievements of local athletes and it was my pleasure to attend for the very first time.
"The hard work and dedication on show reflects the importance of championing grassroots sports and we are immensely proud of their successes and grateful for the role that GLL plays in nurturing local talent.
"I was particularly impressed to learn about the number of athletes, in diverse disciplines including fencing, that GLL have supported to Olympian standards.”
