Top athletes from West Oxfordshire took to the Corn Exchange on Thursday 3rd July to celebrate the GLL Sport Foundation 2025 West Oxfordshire Sports Awards.
There were 70 in attendance at the event to celebrate the local sporting talent and the support offered by the GLL Sports Foundation. In West Oxfordshire 52 athletes are benefiting from £33,850 worth of funding with 87% of the athletes not receiving any other central.
The support covers 16 different sports in West Oxfordshire. This includes badminton, rugby and swimming as well as less common sports such as ice hockey, powerlifting and kayaking. The scheme has a high uptake from younger athletes with 71% being aged under 21 and 35% being under 16.
Medals and certificates were presented to the athletes by Ron Spurs, Deputy Lieutenant for Oxfordshire, and Councillor Tim Sumner, Executive Member for Leisure and Carterton Area Strategy at West Oxfordshire District Council, and athletes left with a goodie bag of different sporting items.
A real highlight from the evening was the athlete Q&A where Graeme Thomas, Olympian and World Champion in the men’s single skulls rowing, and Kim Owen, team GB age group athlete for triathlon, shared their sporting experiences and advice. Graeme spoke about his career highs and lows, falling ill at the Rio 2016 Olympics but going on to claim bronze, silver and gold medals at the world rowing cup and Kim shared her journey getting into triathlon at an older age and how she encourages others to be active through her This Gran Can message.
The scheme continues to grow on a national level with 30,976 athlete awards inclusive of 117 different sports. The total support value is a staggering £17,285,080 which could be possible without its sponsors and key partners including National Governing Bodies, Sports Aid and Additional Athlete Services.
