There are around 100 trophies and awards in the BPMA collection ranging from small medals to large cups and shields. These cups represent the achievements of sporting men and women, and the types of teams and regional organisations in which Post Office people participated.

Three trophies are shown below. From the left, they are:

• The Lambert Challenge Cup No 3, which was presented to the E Company of the 49th Middlesex PO Volunteers for shooting competitions in 1873;
• The Yorkshire Postal and Telegraph Officials Challenge Cup, first presented in 1893. A picture of it appeared in the St Martin’s Le Grand magazine of 1914 when it was won by Sheffield Post Office;
• One of the largest of the awards in the collection is a shield presented by the London Junior Postal Football League in 1936 "To Perpetuate The Memory Of Capt W M Hey Chairman Of The League 1920-1936".

Captain William Montague Hey had entered the Post Office in 1896. He was gassed while serving in the 9th Middlesex Battalion during World War 1 and was given a disability pension.

He continued to be active, and was involved in the foundation of the London Junior Postal Athletics Association in 1931. He was the Honourable Secretary of Telegraph Messengers’ Institute from 1909 to 1936, and Chairman of London Junior Postal Football and Cricket League from 1920 to 1936.

Hey dedicated his spare time to encouraging Boy Messengers in further learning and sport. But his health had never recovered from the gassing, and he died in 1936 aged just 59, leaving a wife and two children. Only the night before he died, he had been attending a sports evening for Boy Messengers at the Duke of York Barracks.

These trophies and awards help us, along with the written and photographic record, to understand and appreciate the long and continuing tradition of sport in the Post Office.

Illustrations

Lambert Challenge Cup No. 3

Yorkshire Postal Officials Cup

Football Challenge Shield