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Hawks’ Club Charitable Trust awards tens of thousands of pounds to support sporting excellence – more to come pledges Matthew Bullock

Today (Tuesday 17 April) a reception was held at the Hawks’ Club in Cambridge to mark £29,950 being distributed to 145 deserving sportsmen and women at Cambridge University. The funding, provided by the Hawks’ Club Charitable Trust, has provided awards ranging from £100 to £1000 to male and female students at 31 different Colleges in 40 different sports.

These annual awards make a huge difference to sportsmen and women at the University, and previous winners have gone on to compete in summer and winter Olympics, World and European Championships and the Commonwealth Games.

As part of this funding round, a number of signature awards, 3 worth £1000 and 3 worth £750, were made, namely:

• The Roy Calvocoressi Award: awarded to Alex Schlindwein (Gonville and Caius) – a fencer who is currently 18^th in the senior national rankings

• The Sir Adrian Cadbury Award: awarded to Samuel Plummer (Jesus) – a kayaker who is currently in the GB national racing squad

• The Bob Barber Award: awarded to Amelia Miller (Downing) – a lacrosse player who is in the England senior squad and got a bronze in the U19 World Championships

• The David Jennens Award: awarded to Melissa Wilson (Lucy Cavendish) – a rower who is a GB international who came 4^th at the 2017 World Championships in a double and was a Henley 2016 winner in a quad

• The Sir Arthur Marshall Award: awarded to Salman Khan (Downing) – a powerlifter who is the holder of the British U23 deadlift record in the 83kg class

• The Christopher Pratt Award: awarded to Fergus Flanagan (Gonville and Caius) – who has shot internationally for Scotland

• The Bill Downey Award (reserved for Emmanuel students): awarded to Edmund Kay (Emmanuel) – a real tennis player (world number 17) and rugby fives player (UK no.3)

• The Ian Lang Award (reserved for rowers): awarded to Imogen Grant (Trinity) – a lightweight rower who is an U23 international for England

The Hawks’ Club Charitable Trust was established in 1996 and is by far the single largest charity dedicated to supporting sport at Cambridge University. The Trustees intend to attract far more capital so they deliver even more impact through the Trust, by providing larger awards and supporting clubs and teams on a regular basis. 

The President of the Hawks’ Club, Sebastian Tullie, said: ‘These Awards are hugely important to the sportsmen and women who are fortunate enough to receive them. The amounts received allow athletes to continue to train, travel and compete at the pinnacle of Cambridge University sport. I know I speak for all the recipients in saying how grateful they are for the support and recognition that the Fund provides.’

The President of the Ospreys’ Club, Lizzie Withers, said: ‘These Awards are a great testament to the hard work and effort which is put in by some of Cambridge University’s best sportsmen and women and no one takes them for granted. They’re hugely valued by everyone lucky enough to receive one.’

The Chairman of the Trust, Matthew Bullock said: ‘The Trustees are delighted to have made almost £30,000 of Awards this year and, as ever, the decision-making process was difficult because of the high calibre of so many applications. The Trust is determined to raise even more money in the future so we can extend and expand the good work the Hawks’ Club Charitable Trust does even further.’