GLL Backs Funding for Local Athletes On Track to Tokyo

GLL is the UKs largest leisure operator, leading Social Enterprise and athletes across its network of 61 areas of the UK will be able to benefit from support. Applications for the programme open on December 20th 2016 until February 20th 2017 and athletes from the Swindon area are encouraged to apply in. Last year, the GLL Sport Foundation in partnership with Swindon Council supported 51 Swindon athletes including rising star Nicholas Dobie. 

 

Nicholas stated how the GLL Sport Foundation has helped him through his sporting career, “I am a determined athlete and have improved a major amount from the last 2 years. I have been awarded a gym membership from GLL since 2014 and in this time I have progressed from being 265th to 32nd in the UK men’s epee rankings. The gym membership is great and so useful to make me the best athlete I can be. I am early in my fencing career but I want to be an international men’s epee champion. I have remained number one ranked in the UK now for 2 years and hope to continue this for many years.”

 

The GLL Sport Foundation is the UKs largest independent athlete support programme and directly partners SportsAid, Mary Peters Trust and SportsAid Wales and through these partnerships provides tangible support to athletes across the UK that are within National Governing Bodies of Sport talent pathways from a junior to senior level. 

 

Since the programme launched in 2008, 10,600 athlete awards have been provided at a total support value of £6.1 million. 75% of supported athletes are aged under 21 and the programme supports athletes across all Olympic, Paralympic, Deaflympic and Special Olympic sports.  

 

The programme supported 59 and 45 athletes that competed at the Games in London and Rio respectively winning 33 medals combined, and with this announcement GLL are focussed on increasing these numbers towards Tokyo and onto the 2024 Games.

 

GLL Sport Foundation Patron Sally Gunnell explains the role the programme has to play “The support from the GLL Sport Foundation is essential for young athletes, and can sometimes be the difference between being talented, and taking the sport up to the elite level. I have experienced first hand the financial struggle of being on the fringes of elite sport, and support programmes such as the GLL Sport Foundation relieves some of the burden so that more time can be spent on performing at the highest level possible”.

 

Athletes from across the UK can apply for support through the GLL Sport Foundation via the online portal - www.gllsportfoundation.org, applications close 20th February 2017.  

 

Supported athletes access financial support, training membership support to Better leisure centres across the UK and also sport science and physiotherapy programmes.