An inspirational boxing coach was overcome with pride after being honoured at a prestigious regional sports ceremony. Charlie Beatt, of the London Fire Brigade, scooped the Supporting Young Londoners Award at the 2026 London Sport Awards on 29 April.
The 46-year-old firefighter, who is based at Wallington Fire Station, claimed the gong, presented by content creator Jamie Shawyer, aka LDNMovements, after being recognised for his incredible efforts running the brigade’s free community boxing programme across south London which has supported over 300 disadvantaged young people since 2019.
Beatt said: “It is a real privilege to receive this recognition. It spurs you on to keep going and encourage more young people. Hopefully, those young people will eventually get into coaching like me and start serving their local community. That would be fantastic.
“The London Sport Awards are massive and to be recognised by them is huge because it means you can do more within your local community, it encourages me as a coach and hopefully it can help with securing funding too. This award gives more weight to what you are doing and the more eyes that are seeing what we’re doing, the better.”
Taking place at the iconic Guildhall, the prestigious regional awards welcomed high-profile guests such as Olympian and TV personality Montell Douglas, who hosted proceedings, British bobsledder and three-time Winter Olympian Greg Cackett, LSA CEO Emily Robinson and Edward Lord, lead member for Sport at City of London Corporation.
Supported by the City of London Corporation, the 2026 London Sport Awards honoured inspiring individuals, projects, and organisations across ten categories, from volunteers and community clubs to businesses and tech innovators, who are helping Londoners lead healthier, more active lives.
From the hundreds of nominations that were made, an expert panel of judges shortlisted 26 nominees across the ten awards that were given out.
As well as honouring all of those present, another highlight of the event, which was enjoying its 10th year, was a Q&A session with Douglas, who is only the second British woman to have competed at both a summer and winter Olympic Games, and Cackett, a world championship silver medallist who competed for Team GB at Milano-Cortina 2026.
London Sport CEO Emily Robinson said: “The London Sport Awards is a fabulous showcase that brings to life all the different groups, volunteers, and grassroots sports organisations in the city of London that are doing amazing things.
“We want people to feel really encouraged that their hard work is being recognised as different sports and well-being activities are incredibly important to the lives of Londoners.”
Douglas added: "Helping Londoners be healthier, happier, and live longer lives, that is what this is all about. It’s so nice to see the faces behind those projects and programmes, so you can see the impact."
London Sport is a charity that helps all Londoners live longer, healthier and happier lives through being active. The London Sport Awards, supported by the City of London Corporation, shines a spotlight on the capital’s unsung heroes who are helping Londoners lead more physically active lives. Find out more at www.londonsport.org.
