The Alastair Hunter Sports Fund provides financial support, via alumni donations, to students who participate in sport at University, local, national and international level. Named after the Dean of St George’s Hospital Medical School from 1956-71, the Fund maintains the St George’s tradition of delivering sporting as well as professional excellence.
Published
In addition to his role as Dean of the Medical School, Alastair Hunter was a highly respected Consultant Physician in General Medicine with an interest in Cardiology, and had a huge passion for sport. Class of 1971 alumnus, Colin Hardisty, was taught by Alastair and, alongside contemporaries, decided to set up the Fund in Alastair’s memory to recognise this love of sport.
Colin says:
“I remember in late spring 1970 I was particularly downcast having wrecked my right knee playing rugby. It was rare for students to go on an elective at that time, but I went to see Alastair in any case. I’m sure he realised that I needed a change and asked about my clinical attachment over the summer. I answered Paediatrics, and he replied that he knew the Dean and Professor in Paediatrics in Vancouver. To which I replied that my brother had just emigrated to be a PE teacher in Vancouver."
“After my final MBBS examination Alastair invited our intake to his house in Little Venice for drinks. And to my great surprise in the summer of 1983, some twelve years after I had last seen him, I received a delightful letter from him congratulating me on my appointment as a Teaching Hospital Physician in Sheffield. We were arranging to meet up in London when he sadly passed away.”
"It was this kindness that Colin felt obliged to repay. “I strongly felt that my contemporaries and myself who were at St George’s during his time as Dean owed him a great debt. I was troubled that this huge debt had never been fully recognised."
"When consulted, the Students’ Union requested support for sport which fitted neatly. An appeal was then made during 2009, with funds initially raised from students qualifying during Alastair’s Deanship.”
The Alastair Hunter Fund continues to support School of Health and Medical Sciences students at Tooting with their sporting endeavours to this day. It exists solely thanks to the generosity of our alumni and is testimony to the lasting impact that alumni donations can have. If you would like to know more about what donations can do for students at City St Georges, please feel free to get in touch.