Better York celebrated the York 2024 GLL Sport Foundation athletes at their annual awards evening held last night at the York Stadium Leisure Complex. The evening was a celebration of the great sporting talent in the City of York and to recognise all the athletes and their successes. The presentation was delivered by Natalie Thomas, York Community Sports Manager; Paul Bickle, York Partnership Manager; and Tim Bestford, GLL Head of Service.
The event was well attended with over 40 attendees and the athletes and family members were joined by partners from City of York Council and our special guests The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of York Councillor Margaret Wells and the Lord Mayor’s Consort Mr Trevor Gant. All in attendance were treated to an enjoyable night of awards and a 2 course meal. Conversation was flowing between athletes and Better York staff and many commented on how great it was to hear more about the GSF programme and to be able to meet other athletes and talk with the staff.
This year the programme has had its’ best ever year with 21 athletes being supported, with lots of new applicants. Not all of them are financially supported but all are provided with training memberships to access Centres in York. In total the York programme represents over £12.5k of investment, a small percentage of the investment supported by GLL with the programme running in 78 other areas of the UK. 90% of our athletes in York are not receiving any other support which highlights the difficult position athletes face to continue to put all their efforts into training and how our core objective to supporting athletes that genuinely need it is being delivered. We want to ensure athletes are not stopping sport based on support and finance. In York 15 of the athletes are aged under 21, 8 are under 16, and we are supporting 12 sports including Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games sports.
The following awards have been received by athletes this year:
Achievement Award:
Kate Hambleton – Karate and Taekwondo.
Top Up Award:
Lucy Hadaway – Athletics (Long Jump)
Talent Award:
Katie Robertson - Closed circuit and Track Cycling.
Alex Tew – Swimming (Freestyle)
Eve Parkin – Swimming (Backstroke)
Training Award:
Becky Penty – Athletics (Endurance)
Hollis Lansford – Obstacle Course Racing
Dylan Parsons – Volleyball (Beach and Indoor)
Philip Suddes – Swimming (Freestyle)
Zack Lowe – Cycling (Road and Track)
Alice McHaffie - Wheelchair Basketball
Finlay Lorimer - Kick Boxing
Emma Will – Swimming
John Moreland – Athletics (Discus)
Ursula Catton – Ski Mountaineering Racing
Mark Harney – Multisport Athlete
Luke Smith – Volleyball (Beach and Indoor)
Thomas Moss – Sailing
Megan Mills – Swimming (Breaststroke)
Lily Craske – Athletics (Sprint)
Aidan Hughes – Ultimate Frisbee
Thank you to City of York Council, the supporting partners and National Governing Bodies of sport. On behalf of GLL and the GLL Sport Foundation congratulations again to our 2024 athletes. Your successes are truly motivating and inspiring to us and we look forward to supporting your athlete journeys for years to come.
