This frieze was commissioned by Loughborough University in the early 1950’s, and funded by the Past Students' Charitable Trust. Named after Sir William Brockington, the first Director of Education for Leicestershire, the Brockington Building at Loughborough University was built in the early 1950s for the then Teacher Training College, with plaques depicting student activities, Running, Swimming, Reading and Handicrafts. 

Willi Soukop was born in Vienna, later settling in England. He taught Elisabeth Frink and Robert Clatworthy at Chelsea School of Art and became a Royal Academician in 1969, becoming Master of Sculpture at the Royal Academy Schools from 1969-82. His eclectic works were firmly in the tradition of British Modernism, blending influences from Jacob Epstein, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Hans Coper and others. Public collections holding his work include the Royal Academy and the Tate Gallery.