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Young athletes given £1,000 to help realise Olympic dream
Matthew Beard, Sports News Correspondent22 Apr 2009
Hundreds of young athletes have been awarded £1,000 grants to help realise their dream of competing in the London Olympics.
The "Local Heroes" bursary scheme has been hailed by Olympics chief Sebastian Coe as a model for others to follow.
On its first anniversary today, cheques were written out to 270 teenage athletes. The cash can be used for anything from air fares to air guns.
At Roehampton University six young athletes from London and the South-East who are benefiting from the project were unveiled, meeting five-time Olympic swimmer Mark Foster.
The scheme is being run by Lloyds TSB, the official bank of the 2012 Games. All the athletes chosen are rated in the top 10 nationally and vetted for the bank by charity Sportaid. In his first year of the bursary, Peter Bakare, 19, from Canning Town, was chosen for the Great Britain volleyball squad and now receives Lottery funding to train full-time in Sheffield.
Mr Bakare said: "It was a massive boost when I got the letter and the funding was confirmed.
"Apart from giving me belief it's paid for my travel and equipment and enabled me to concentrate on sport.
"I've also had advice [from Olympic triple-jump champion Jonathan Edwards], who has prepared me for the highs and lows."
Athletes are obliged to attend local Lloyds branch openings and away days as the bank seeks to use its Olympic status to boost morale among its 60,000 staff during the recession.
Wheelchair racer Jonathan Smith, 16, from Kingston, also a "Local Hero" said: "We do quite a lot of work at the Kingston branch in Eden Street. Lloyds could spend their money on top athletes but we may be pushing them out in three to four years time." Jonathan spent much of last year's bursary on physiotherapy and will return soon to training with Velocity Racing in Kingston after a three-month layoff.
Similar schemes to "Heroes" are taking shape with other 2012 sponsors. Among them, Dame Kelly Holmes fronts a BT project, while British Airways is offering youngsters free flights to international competitions.
Lloyds spent £80million to become an Olympics sponsor and expects to spend double that exploiting the rights. It has set its sights on enhancing funding at feeder clubs so success will last beyond the Games.
Meanwhile, adidas says it aims to boost sports participation by launching outdoor gyms, or "Adizones", in five east London boroughs. It takes its "Aditour", a gymnasium on wheels, around the country starting this week. The Government is putting £550million into boosting the 2012 medal haul among elite athletes. But Lord Coe said private-sector projects were helping to fill in the gap in funding as recession bites.
He said of the Lloyds scheme: "These young athletes are potential Olympic and Paralympic medal winners at London 2012 and beyond. The support Lloyds provides to them will make a real difference."
Meet the teenagers hoping to star in 2012
Peter Bakare, 19
Volleyball
From: Canning Town
In his second year as a "Hero", Bakare has graduated to the Great Britain team and trains with them in Sheffield. He took up volleyball on the recommendation of his basketball coach three years ago.
Jonathan Smith, 16
Wheelchair racing
From: Kingston
Just coming back from a shoulder injury, Smith competes over all distances from 100m to marathon.
He is on the brink of breaking into the junior Great Britain wheelchair racing team.
Sheree Cox, 18
Shooting
From: Sunbury, Middlesex
She started shooting aged 12 and won gold at the Commonwealth Youth Games last year. The rifle shooter says the Lloyds grant has made up for the Government cuts in funding to her sport last year.
Alex Groves, 17
Sailing
From: Surbiton
Parents both keen sailors and his idol is Olympic champion, Ben Ainslie. Groves is the world under-19 champion and ranked fourth in Britain. He aims to compete in the 49er class at the London Olympics.
Olivia Carnegie-Brown, 17
Rowing
From: Goring, Berkshire
After just one year in a boat, she won a race against France two years ago. Last year, she won gold in the women's four boat at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival. She aims to join the under-23 GB squad soon.
Curtis Miller, 16
Fencing
From: Camden
Curtis competed in the world sabre championships at under-17 level after winning last year's under-16 British youth championships. He aims to qualify for the European and world championships and make 2012.
Reader views (7)
Are you people serious???? Don't you care about sport in this county? Any national pride?? The Olympics are going forward no matter what and I at least would like to see us do well at the games! These bursaries are a huge thing for youngsters in sport. Aside from the money, the support and belief it gives people trying to reach the top is fantastic.
Stop being negative and get behind all our athletes and wish them best success!!
- Dave, Wales, 24/04/2009 15:47
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Couldn't agree more, Steve & R F of Yorks. It is a waste of money. The UK is bankrupt now, so why are we still spending precious resources on the great 2012 Vanity Project?!
- Cally G, Essex, UK, 24/04/2009 14:06
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This has to be a good thing; if we had no Olympics, just think how many young people's ambitions we could support with the money, not just athletes.
- Mdj E10, london uk, 23/04/2009 17:31
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Waste of money? Glad that some of the taxpayers money that is being used to prop up the banks is going back into grassroots sport! The legacy of this olympics will not just be structural it will be cultural too! Organisations like SportsAid need more support from companies like Lloyds.
- Dan, Islington, London, 22/04/2009 21:11
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A total waste of £270,000. If Lloyds have this amount of money to give away why not use it towards the astronomical cost of building the stadia. If Coe wants to sponsor athletes he ought to use his own money.
- R.F., Yorks, UK, 22/04/2009 15:44
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Yes Steve, I agree. It would be better that they were out there stabbbing and shooting people instead of being awarded for their talent...!
- Allison, London, 22/04/2009 14:51
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What a waste of money.
- Steve, London, 22/04/2009 12:23
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