MBE Honour for Surrey's Sally Edie
Tuesday 15 January 2008
The Queen has awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours List to Sally Edie, Head of Sports Programmes and Development at the University of Surrey, in recognition of her services to education and sport.
Sally joined the University’s Centre for Sport & Recreation in 1973 as part of a small group which provided sporting opportunities for the student community. Since then there has been over a four-fold increase in the number of students and she has been responsible for building up the programme of sporting activities to over 90 hours of taught courses each week, by far the largest and most varied of any British university. She has also run a full programme of sporting activities for the local community, especially for children.
Sally has played a significant role in the British Universities Sports Association serving as an energetic Chair of the Trampolining Sports Management Group and ensuring that trampolining was not closed down at a time of severe financial pressure. She has also made a significant contribution to the work of other national bodies concerned with sports collaboration in higher education, for example, the Women's Inter-Varsity Athletics Board, the Universities Athletics Union, the British Universities Physical Education Association and the British Students Sports Federation.
Commenting on the award, which came as a complete surprise, Sally said: "I am completely overwhelmed but over the moon, to be given this honour. An award like this is a reflection of the whole department, not just one person. I feel so privileged to have a job which provides me the opportunity to work with and influence young people."
She also organises the University's Saturday Morning Club at which many young volunteers (including students) run activities for children with special needs and their siblings. This club, which won the Mayor of Guildford's Award for Access in 2006, is a joint venture run with Disability Challengers and has been attended by over 200 children in the last six years. Through her outstanding leadership of the club, Sally has inspired many children to enjoy physical activities.
Congratulating Sally on the award, the Vice-Chancellor said: "Sally's much deserved MBE is a great recognition of the immense contribution she has made to sport, education, the University and the region."
Media Enquiries
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