Olympians at College Fundraiser

TORBAY welcomed Olympic guests Steve Cram MBE, Brendan Foster CBE, Heather Fell and Paul Dickenson at a Gala Sports Dinner which raised over £2,300 for the charity, Friends of South Devon College.

This charity has a four year track record of bringing high profile sports dinner guests to the region including John Motson, Ray Stubbs, Murray Walker, Graham Taylor OBE and Lawrie McMenemy MBE.

This Olympic themed Gala Dinner also featured three local Olympic hopefuls for the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, including one South Devon College sports student who is currently part of the GB BMX squad. The event was well supported by the community and local businesses with over 130 guests attending and entertained by the sporting celebrities over a three course dinner. There was also a special recorded personal video message from double Olympic gold medal winner and chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, Lord Seb Coe, commending the College for its approach to sport, the Olympics, young people, and fund raising. The Olympic themed evening featured Olympic stars of the past, present and future.

Steve Cram MBE is one of the World’s most successful middle distance athletes of all time, with six gold medals at World, European and Commonwealth Championships and an Olympic silver medal. His partner Allison Curbishley, a former 400m runner who won silver at the Commonwealth games in 1998, also attended. Brendan Foster CBE is a former distance runner, founder of the Great North Run and winner of Olympic bronze in 1976.  Former British and Commonwealth record holder for the hammer Paul Dickenson is one of the best-known voices in BBC sports, being a leading BBC commentator on track and field for over 20 years. Devon’s own Heather Fell is a British modern pentathlete, which includes pistol shooting, fencing, 200m freestyle swimming, show jumping, and a 3 km cross-country run. She won an Olympic Silver medal in 2008 and is hoping to go one better next year. Three Olympic hopefuls for London 2012 also attended the dinner: College student and Team GB BMX squad member Dan McBride; England Judo team member Alex Paske and Youth Commonwealth Gold winning gymnast Jay Thompson. The well known guests were all invited to attend the dinner by Alan Hart, former Head of BBC Sports and current Chairman of the Friends of South Devon College.

College Principal Stephen Criddle was delighted with the evening at the Barceló Imperial Hotel, Torquay, and the amount raised. “My sincere thanks and appreciation to the special guests, staff and students involved in the organisation, set up and running of the event. The whole evening was a credit to everyone’s hard work and professionalism and feedback was excellent - it was an honour to have past, present and hopefully future Olympians in attendance.  The money raised will go a long way to helping those students who need it most, and is a result of an initiative started by Governor Alan Hart who is also Chairman of the Friends of South Devon College.”

All proceeds raised from fundraising on the night will go to benefit the students of South Devon College through the ‘Friends of South Devon College’ a charitable trust, which was established in 2008 to ‘enhance the education of students attending South Devon College and to support the local community’. With the support of the Friends of South Devon College, the college is able to ensure that hardship is not a barrier to education, to provide enhanced opportunities and better support students to achieve their full potential. For more information on the Friends of South Devon College call 01803 540395 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .