The Ron Pickering Memorial Fund made its first annual grant in 1992 and was founded by Jean Pickering and her children Kim and Shaun following the untimely death of husband and father Ron in 1991. The RPMF has since granted several thousand small but individually significant awards totalling over £2.5 million.
Awards are made annually in December/January after an application process in the preceding autumn. Grants are available to both able and disability athletes between the ages of 15 and 23, with grants to athletes over 23 being made in exceptional circumstance.
The grants are designed to make a difference and range in value depending on the athletes age, information pills ability and personal circumstances but have always had an impact on the athletes ability to develop, helping recipients make the difficult transition from junior to senior level through support for equipment, specialist coaching or travel and importantly helping build the athletes’ confidence and self esteem through recognition.
The success of the awards has been considerable with many of today’s leading athletes being helped along the way by the RPMF. The majority of recent TeamGB athletics team members have been at some stage supported by the fund, including all individual Olympic medallists from the 2012 and 2016 Games.