Last month, charitable social enterprise GLL hosted its annual Sport Foundation Sponsors Golf Day at Mowsbury Golf & Squash Complex in Bedford. GLL operate Mowsbury Golf and Squash Complex as part of the partnership with Bedford Borough Council, a recent addition to the GLL portfolio.
GLL were joined by Ashley Bartlett from Bedford Borough Council along with Deputy Mayor Councillor Jim Weir.
The event was an opportunity to review the success of GLL Sport Foundation (GSF), the UK's largest independent athlete support programme that has provided over 2200 athlete awards in 2024. The scheme reaches out to local communities with opportunities to widen and deepen the impact of sport while promoting physical activity and preventative health.
Over 28,000 awards worth £15m have been taken up since 2008.
Plans were discussed for the future development of the programme and the success of the recent partnership with Switch the Play – providing athlete wellbeing services to all on the scheme. It was also an opportunity to be able to confirm the commitment to retain athlete representation on the GSF Board.
This year has been a fantastic year for sport with many GSF athletes taking part in major competitions. Over 100 supported athletes past and present competed at the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics winning an incredible 77 medals.
Sponsors and partners had an opportunity to reflect on incredible performances at Paris 2024 by GSF athletes past and present – with the Paris athletes attending the event to speak directly about their medal experiences and to underline the impact that GSF has had on their sporting journeys.
Athletes attending were;
GSF National Ambassadors and Paris Olympic Silver & Bronze Medallist Diver Noah Williams, Paris Olympic Canoe Slalom and Kayak Cross Bronze Medallist Kimberley Woods, Paris Para Cycling Silver Medallist Blaine Hunt, Paris Paralympic Coxswain Erin Kennedy MBE were joined by GSF Alumni Tokyo Olympic Gold Medallist Diver Matty Lee and Commonwealth Silver Medallist Diver Matthew Dixon.
All delivered a Q&A and spoke to give words of inspiration.
GSF sponsors are drawn from the ranks of GLL's supply chain. Teams from Technogym, Kyocera, Speedo, Taylor Made Designs, Physical Company, Pumps and Motors and Brakes took part in the Sponsors Golf Day while Pro Event Solutions (PES) provided the audio-visual support.
Among senior GLL staff taking part were CEO and Chair of the GLL Sport Foundation Peter Bundey, Deputy CEO Phil Donnay and Regional Director Tony Wallace.
Peter Bundey said: “We are only able to make our strong commitment to our young athletes due to the support of our sponsors and our Sport Foundation Sponsors Golf Day was an opportunity to thank them and share our programme’s impact with them through meeting the athletes in person.
“Our Sport Foundation goes from strength to strength and I want to congratulate all our supported athletes for what has been a historic summer of sporting success.”
The winning team was Pumps & Motors with the individual winner Michael also representing the company.
Speaking for Pumps & Motors - an organisation that manufactures, repairs and maintains air conditioners and pool pumps, Albie Dunn said: "It was a brilliant day. The people at the golf club had done an exceptional job in preparing the course so that we were able to play after the bad weather.
“It was really touching to hear the athletes' testimonials and to realise that without the support of the GSF, we wouldn't be able to follow our favourite sportspeople and see them succeed."
As is customary at this annual event, all sponsors were presented with a memento to celebrate athlete performance at the year’s key sporting event - a framed t-shirt from the Paris Olympics and Paralympics 2024, depicting a list of all GLL athletes (present and alumni) who took part and the medals they won.
