In November last year alumni of the University hosted a fantastic fundraising dinner at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in support of SaSkCo Scholarships and in memory of alumnus Simon Greenberg (History, 1990).
Simon, who sadly passed away in September 2021, founded the scholarships to support students at the University of Exeter who compete at junior international level in an Olympic sport. Such was his passion for sport both professionally and personally and his exceptional generosity, that Simon designed the scholarships to support the development of deserving students to enable them to fulfil both their academic and sporting potential.
Named after Simon’s three children, SaSkCo Scholarships are awarded to students competing in Olympic sports who are not in receipt of fully funded support via their sport’s governing body. They support student athletes who have aspirations of competing at an Olympic Games, enabling recipients to balance the demands of training and competing in international-level sport with the time commitments of studying for a degree at a Russell Group university.
Delivered through the University of Exeter’s Performance Sport programme, SaSkCo Scholarships are tailored to the needs of the individual athlete and typically provide funding towards scholars’ sporting expenses alongside a comprehensive package of support services including sport-specific coaching and elite level strength and conditioning, physiotherapy, sports psychology, and nutrition support.
We spoke to alumnus James Mills (History, 1990) who studied alongside Simon to hear more about his friend and how the fundraising dinner came about, he said: “Simon, at university and throughout his later life, was a highly successful, committed, and loyal sportsman, journalist, businessman, son, brother, father, husband, and friend to many. As the old adage goes, the ‘best of us are taken young’. We were all so proud of his achievements in later life and this made the news all the more hard. A small number of us got to see Simon in his last weeks and felt a strong desire to do something. At this stage, we had not even heard of the SaSkCo Scholarships that Simon had set up at the University of Exeter, without fanfare, four years previously. We set up a committee led by Alison Williams Walker and Abi Gill, and set out to create “A Night to Remember”.
We also heard from one of those students and current member of the British Sailing Team, Freya Black, at the fundraising dinner in November:
“I have been extremely fortunate to be a SaSkCo Scholar at the University of Exeter whist studying Philosophy and Politics. I was fortunate to meet and speak with Simon on a number of occasions and was struck by his willingness and support for an Exeter Uni student to excel and make it to the Olympics. He clearly loved sport and was always keen to hear my news.
“Through Simon’s generosity and active participation in the High Performance Programme and Sports Scholarship, I was able to fully commit in the early stages of my campaign which enabled me to compete on the World circuit.
“Next year will be a big year for us as our trials for the Olympics begin at the major events where I hope to do Simon proud by representing GB at the Paris 2024 Olympics.”
The dinner, organised by Simon’s friends, brought together more than 100 of Simon’s friends, family, and alumni of the University and raised an incredible £37,240. Thanks to the generosity of all involved, this gift will enable the University to continue to award SaSkCo Scholarships to stand-out student athletes in Simon’s memory.
Reflecting on the total raised Charlotte Hale, Head of Performance said: “We are delighted to continue to award SaSkCo Scholarships in memory of Simon, who was a passionate supporter of our Sports Scholarship Scheme. Simon very much enjoyed seeing SaSkCo Scholars develop during their time at the University and he was a fantastic mentor to the students he supported. Thanks to the generosity of so many of Simon’s friends, we look forward to continuing his legacy by supporting talented student athletes to fulfil their potential.”
A special mention and thank you to the alumni organising committee:
- James Mills (History, 1990)
- Alison Williams-Walker (Mathematics and Computing, 1990)
- Abigail Gill (Psychology & Sociology, 1990)
- Anna Crowe (Arabic & Islamic Studies, 1991)
- Lou Bugg (Biological Sciences, 1990)
- Dan Cottrell (Economics, 1991)
- James Cooper (French & German, 1991)
- Simon Francis (Biological Sciences, 1990)
- Marcus Cave (Economics, 1990)
If you’d like to find out more about the SaSkCo Scholarships please visit our website.
L-R: Charlie Hale, James Mills, Cameron Thores, Alison Williams-Walker, Abigail Gill, Marcus Cave, Anna Crowe, Matilda Nicholls, Simon Tyson