The immortal spirit of adventure

Friday 19 March 2010

The first ever Alex Richardson Award will be presented to second year student Charles Arnot tomorrow (Saturday March 20, 2010) at a memorial ceremony in St Andrews.

The Award was set up in memory of Alex Richardson, who was in his Junior Honours year at the University of St Andrews when he tragically died last year.

His family and friends have funded the award as a living memorial of his spirit of adventure and his passion for Spanish-speaking cultures.

The Alex Richardson Award is open to all students in their second year intending to continue Spanish at Honours level, and provides £1,500 to allow travel to a Spanish-speaking country to gain a deeper understanding of the culture.

Charles Arnot, the first recipient of this generous endowment, intends to use the funding to undertake charity work in Costa Rica this summer before going on to further explore Central America.

Alex himself spent part of his gap year living with a native family in Costa Rica and teaching in a local school. His ambition had been to open a hotel there.

Arnot said:

“I feel particularly honoured to be the first ever recipient of this generous award. I can think of no better way to pay tribute to Alex than by sharing his passion for Spanish and exploration. I would like to extend my great thanks to Alex’s friends and family for making this award available and I very much look forward to the opportunity to travel and learn this summer.”

Alex’s father, Chris Richardson said:

“The introduction of the annual Alex Richardson Award is something that we feel Alex would have approved of, especially as he himself had won a similar award, and it is something that we as a family are very proud of. For many years to come, we hope that students studying Spanish will benefit from their travels, as a result of this award, just as Alex did.”

The presentation will be made at a memorial ceremony in the gardens of the University museum, MUSA, in which a memorial bench will be unveiled in memory of Alex Richardson.

Attendees will include: University Principal, Louise Richardson, Chaplain, Jamie Walker, Senior Lecturer in Spanish, Bernard Bentley, and many of Alex’s friends.

Photos of Alex Richardson and of Charles Arnot are available on request.

Contact the Communications Office on 01334 462 167.

Issued by the University of St Andrews

Contact: Emma Shea, Communications Manager on 01334 462 167 or email [email protected].


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