Peter Lim and Singapore Olympic Foundation committed to hope and recovery with ‘Encouraging Awards’

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought numerous sporting events and competitions around the world to a standstill in the last year. The current circumstances push us all to adapt to a new reality, including in the field of sport. For this reason, Peter Lim and the Singapore Olympic Foundation (SOF) have decided to give special recognition to young athletes in Singapore, with the aim of continuing to inspire new generations, contributing to building an atmosphere that aids recovery and provides hope. These are the ‘Encouraging Awards,’ which this year will replace the traditional ‘Singapore Olympic Foundation - Peter Lim scholarships.’

While the spirit of the 'Encouraging Awards' is the same as that of the 'Singapore Olympic Foundation - Peter Lim scholarships’ -rewarding effort and granting the necessary means to developing students and athletes- this year an alternative criteria has been set, adapted to a difficult set of circumstances. The 'Encouraging Awards' by Peter Lim and the SOF will place a special emphasis on school performance, prioritising those in the most adverse economic situations and reducing the individual amount that each student athlete receives -in order for more athletes to enjoy the benefits and pursue their dreams.

Since June of 2010, Valencia CF's majority shareholder has awarded 2,930 scholarships worth a combined worth $8 million to athletes from 54 different disciplines. Recently, in 2019, he made an additional donation of $10 million for the period between 2021 and 2030. This measure is another example of Peter Lim's constant philanthropic work in places like Singapore, the United Kingdom and Valencia, where in recent months he has made donations of FFP2 masks or thermometers at a time of an alarming lack of material in hospitals, in addition to providing housing for health workers fighting on the frontline against the virus and promoting initiatives for the donation and distribution of food -such as that which Valencia CF has run since last May with the Banco de Alimentos food bank.

Ng Ser Miang, president of the Singapore Olympic Foundation, as well as director of Valencia CF and president of the VCF Foundation, said of the the 'Encouraging Awards' that: “It is the wish of the Singapore Olympic Foundation and Mr. Peter Lim continue to encourage and support young student athletes, especially those from difficult backgrounds. With the revised criteria this year we hope to reach as many as possible, and at the same time continue to support their sporting aspirations. I thank Mr. Lim for his unwavering support and contribution to extending the scholarship through to 2030”.