Olympic borough receives Queen’s Award
The community of the Royal Borough of Greenwich has been given the Queen’s Award in recognition of their support for the equestrian disciplines at the London Olympics.
The British Horse Society award, “for outstanding services to equestrianism”, is normally given to an individual but after the success of the Olympics it was decided that the entire community should be recognised.
The award was presented to the Borough at the Royal International Horse Show, Hickstead on Friday (2 August) in front of an audience which included riders who had competed at Greenwich and last year’s volunteer “games makers”.
“Greenwich Park was one of the iconic venues of the Games in London and it was only made possible through the support of the people of Greenwich,” said Lord Coe.
“Their contribution was outstanding and I am delighted that the Queen’s Award is being presented to this Royal Borough.”
Receiving the award on behalf of the Borough, councillor Chris Roberts said: “I am honoured and delighted to accept this prestigious award on behalf of the people of the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
“The equestrian events resulted in Greenwich being called “the undisputed star of the Games” which showcased our Borough in a manner even we did not fully envisage.
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“The Games will live long in the memories of all those who witnessed the events and we are so proud to have been honoured in this way.”
Queen Elizabeth II assented to the creation of The BHS Queen’s Award for Equestrianism in 2005. Previous recipients have been Jennie Loriston-Clarke FBHS MBE (2006), HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (2007), Lars Goran (Yogi) Breisner FBHS (2008), Jane Holderness-Roddam (2009) and Stephen Clarke FBHS (2010), Jane Goldsmith FBHS (2011) and Brenda Larmor (2012).
The other nominees for the 2013 award were: Sue Adams-Wheeler (Riding for the Disabled Association), David Leonard Gulley FWCF (Farriers), Carl Hester (British Dressage and the BHS), Hugh Thomas and Mike Tucker (British Eventing).
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Sophia Heath joined Horse & Hound in July 2013 having previously worked for the Daily Telegraph's Olympics website, CNN International and Omnisport. A Durham graduate with a Masters in journalism from City University, Sophia has evented, showjumped and hunted. Sophia left Horse & Hound in early 2015 to join an international boating website.