King's College London

Jonathon Dawes, who graduated in 2024, received the Emerging Leader Award at the annual King’s Distinguished Alumni event, which celebrates the achievements of former students since leaving the university.

In his time at King’s, Jonathon made tennis the largest sport on campus, increasing participation by 66 per cent and earning KCL Tennis the BUCS Club of the Year award for 2023-2024. Now a postgraduate scholar at Durham University, he continues to support tennis at King’s by helping to organise and manage a series of initiatives, including:

• KCL’s inaugural LGBTQ+ Tennis Festival, attracting more than 60 participants.
  
  
• A second Visually Impaired Tennis Workshop and Disability History Month event at the Queen’s Club, trebling attendance year-on-year and covering wheelchair, para-standing, and learning-disability tennis
  
  
• Mentoring for Black History Month and Women’s History Month panels that engaged 200+ students.
  
  
• Building on the relationship with the Queen’s Club Foundation to create more fundraising opportunities for the charity and opportunities for students to coach, volunteer and contribute to the development of tennis in London

Jonathon’s continued support has helped to engage more than 350 students and unlocked more than £2,500 in new funding, while charity events have raised almost £1,000 for good causes.

Jonathon said: “I’m truly honoured and overjoyed to receive the King’s Distinguished Alumni Award, especially in the company of friends, family, and colleagues at Bush House. I’m deeply grateful to everyone who has supported me along the way, with special thanks to King’s, and in particular staff within the School of Politics and Economics, for inspiring me to follow my passions and aim for excellence throughout my undergraduate journey.”

His success builds on the work he started during his time on the KCL Tennis committee and as president when he drove a number of initiatives, including a partnership with Wilson, staging the university’s first Tennis Open Day, a new four-day-a-week BeActive programme for beginners and the launch of the A.C.E Leadership Academy, which took 32 students from underserved communities through a coaching qualification free of charge.

Earlier this year, Jonathon, who studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at King’s, was awarded the 24/25 KCLSU Honorary Life Membership (Alumni) for services to tennis at the university and KCL Tennis won the Event of the Year Award for its ‘inclusive by design’ programme.

Professor Peter John, head of the School of Politics and Economics, said: “It was fantastic to meet Jonathon and hear about the work he has been doing - while at King’s and since leaving - to improve access to sport for students. He was a worthy winner of the Emerging Leader Award and a credit to the school.”