Disability Snowsport UK (DSUK) have become the first-ever beneficiary of the Snowsport Industries of Great Britain (SIGB) Foundation Award, a new award set up to make a contribution to a good cause within UK snowsport. The award is funded by income from the Slide industry trade show, which is owned and organised by SIGB.
The SIGB Foundation Award is open to any registered charity involved with skiing and snowboarding in the UK. DSUK, who operate to provide equal access to skiing and snowboarding for the disabled, were chosen for the inaugural award due to their huge remit and limited resources available to carry out their good work. Specifically the money was needed for the ‘Save Our Ski Schools’ campaign, a campaign aimed at ensuring the national adaptive ski school programme could survive.
Ed Hewison, Trusts and Grants Fundraiser at DSUK said of the Award: “We are hugely grateful for the fantastic donation of £4,000 from SIGB towards our 'Save Our Ski Schools' campaign which will be used to secure the future of our national adaptive ski school programme. The fundraising environment has been extremely tough over the past few years resulting in DSUK struggling to deal with the costs of delivering our ski school programme.
“This funding will help us to secure the future of our adaptive ski schools across the UK by enabling us to invest in new equipment, recruit new instructors and cover the administrative costs associated with the programme. This donation will show our members that the rest of the UK snowsports fraternity is fully behind adaptive snowsport and that SIGB understand the importance of access to our sport for all members of society and for this we are extremely grateful.”
Sam Noble, President of the SIGB said: “We are delighted to present our first ever SIGB Foundation Award to DSUK who have been working tirelessly for years to provide access to snowsports for people with any disability. The ‘Save our Ski Schools’ campaign was deemed as a clear project that needed support, and we hope the SIGB Foundation Award can make a difference to ensure adaptive ski schools across the country can continue.
“Running the Slide trade show allows SIGB to bring money into the industry and invest it into worthwhile activities, such as the SIGB Foundation Award, for the better of the UK snowsport industry. We are now welcoming applications for the second SIGB Foundation Award, and hope we can continue to make an important contribution to a charity within our industry.”
Following the success of the inaugural Award, the SIGB will now make the SIGB Foundation Award annually, with any registered charity able to apply for the £4,000 award. Applications must be snowsport related (for example wider participation or improved accessibility) and submitted by 1 November 2016.
Applications should ideally take the form of a simple video (not a major production, it can be taken on a phone or a POV camera), maximum 1 minute. Written applications might be considered but priority will be given to video applications.
Applications should be sent to info@sigb.org.uk to arrive not later than 1 November 2016. The award will be announced in December 2016 and there will be a presentation of the award at the SLIDE Trade Show in Telford on Wednesday 25 January 2017. It is intended that the award is presented annually – subject to the success of the SIGB organised Slide Trade Show for snowsport in the UK.