Making a difference to netball, cross country and athletics Blue
Giving to support the student experience is making a real difference across the Green Templeton community in a multitude of ways.
In the first of a new series of impact stories, Alexandra Shipley (Clinical Medicine, 2021) reflects on how she has benefitted from a recent Blues Grant from college.
Alexandra Shipley writes
I am incredibly grateful for the support provided by the GTC Blues Grant. It has helped me balance medical school with university sport – the highlight of my time at Oxford. Sport has introduced me to brilliant friends, challenged me on so many levels and offered an outlet from academic life.
Over the past five years, I have competed for the netball, cross country and athletics Blues teams but now focus on middle distance running. Over the past couple of years, I am proud to have broken the university’s mile record, won bronze in the 1500m at the U23 national championships, come 4th in the 1,500m at the Senior England Athletics Championships and competed at Olympic trials.
The unique team element always makes athletics varsity a special occasion. During the spring 2023 indoor varsity, it was particularly exciting to be part of the quartet, which broke the distance medley relay (1200m, 400m, 800m, 1600m) record by 20 seconds.
I am looking forward to joining the Oxford and Cambridge combined athletics team on a tour to America to race against Harvard, Yale, Penn and Cornell. The GTC sports grant will be a very helpful contribution towards this.
You can find out more about Giving to Green Templeton on these pages or by getting in touch with Head of Development and Alumni Relations Ceri Butcher at ceri.butcher@gtc.ox.ac.uk or +44 (0)1865 274797.
