Nyon sports foundation awards

This year's awards ceremony took place at the House of European Football. Award beneficiaries for 2014 were Stand Up Paddle et Surf de Nyon (stand-up paddling and surfing); Nyon Rugby Club; Club Alpin Suisse (CAS) – Section Nyon La Dôle (mountain sports); Club de l'Aviron de Nyon (rowing); Twirling Sport Nyon (baton-twirling); Ski Club de Nyon; Judo Team Nyon; and Swiss Disabled Sailing.

The funds allocated will be used to improve facilities, purchase equipment, organise youth training camps, and – demonstrating the sporting talent that resides in the town – help sportsmen and women who will be representing Switzerland in forthcoming world and European championships or even the Olympic Games.

The foundation also gives assistance in the upgrading of sports installations in the town. In addition, it finances training or improvement programmes run for young people by the Nyon sports clubs. Moreover, with the foundation's help, local athletes have been able to fulfil dreams and objectives by taking part in national and international competitions and events, furthering their cultural knowledge and meeting counterparts from other countries.

"This foundation exists thanks to UEFA, which has shown a sense of social responsibility in providing the resources which enable us to reward people who deserve support," said the mayor of Nyon, Daniel Rossellat, at the awards ceremony. The foundation also lent invaluable support to the organisers of last summer's European Road Championships for Under-23 men and women cyclists and juniors.

European football's governing body has financed the Fondation pour le Développement du Sport à Nyon (Foundation for the Development of Sport in Nyon), which was established in 2000, and promotes the activities and achievements of sports bodies and individuals in the town.

The foundation's aim is to subsidise Nyon-based sports clubs and encourage local people, and especially young people, to practise a sporting discipline. Another key objective is to improve and develop sporting infrastructures in the town of around 19,000 inhabitants, which is situated some 25km from Geneva. A board is responsible for the foundation's management, comprising the mayor of Nyon as well as the municipal official responsible for sport and a representative of UEFA. The existence of the foundation is a special token of UEFA's gratitude to the authorities in Nyon for the assistance given to the European body, notably when it settled in the town.

The Foundation for the Development of Sport in Nyon has been entirely financed by UEFA, and consisted of an initial capital of CHF 3,150,000. Each year, sportsmen/women and sports clubs/bodies in Nyon submit requests to the foundation for funding, supplying detailed information on the reasons for their request. Since 2002, out of 85 projects submitted and considered, 69 have received financial support. Over this same period, the foundation has subsidised Nyon sports clubs and individuals to the tune of CHF 910,000.

After more than three decades in the Swiss federal capital Berne, UEFA moved to temporary premises in Nyon in 1995, while the House of European Football, situated on the outskirts of the town, was built. The European body moved into its new premises in October 1999 and now operates from a football campus which contains three buildings.

In 2010, UEFA took over the management of the Stade de Colovray, opposite its headquarters. The stadium – home to the town's football club FC Stade Nyonnais – has staged the UEFA Youth League final round and European youth competition finals. Top European club and national teams have trained and played there, and it is also the home of UEFA's Centre of Refereeing Excellence (CORE).

In October, to celebrate its 60th birthday, UEFA opened its doors to the local public for a successful Open Day, with 4,200 people coming to learn more about the European body, view a wealth of memorabilia and participate in training sessions with star players.