SportsAid is a UK
charity
Charity may refer to:
Common meanings
* Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons
* Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...
that helps British athletes, typically 12-18 whose parents are their only other means of support. The charity helps these athletes by giving them cash awards to help them meet the cost of training and competing.
Overview
In a typical year more than 1,500 sporting prospects receive SportsAid Awards of around £1,000 funded by the charity's partners, donors and supporters. These include
Lloyds TSB
Lloyds Bank plc is a major British retail and commercial bank with a significant presence across England and Wales. It has traditionally been regarded one of the " Big Four" clearing banks.
Established in Birmingham in 1765, Lloyds Bank e ...
,
Asda
Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...
,
Eversheds,
Hogarth, Founded and the Jaguar Academy of Sport.
At the
London 2012 Olympic and
Paralympic Games
The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...
two-thirds of the British athletes were SportsAid alumni, winning 20 Olympic and 27 Paralympic gold medals between them. Famous alumni include Sir
Bradley Wiggins
Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional Road bicycle racing, road and track cycling, track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but ...
, Dame
Sarah Storey, Sir
Steve Redgrave,
David Weir CBE, Sir
Chris Hoy, Baroness Grey-Thompson and Sir
Ben Ainslie
Sir Charles Benedict Ainslie (born 5 February 1977) is a British sailing (sport), competitive sailor. Ainslie is the most successful sailor in Olympic history. He won medals at five consecutive Olympics from 1996 onwards, including gold at four ...
.
London 2012 generated a lot of support for SportsAid's work and to maintain this in 2013 the charity launched a new campaign called "I Will". This campaign is led by a film directed by Morgan Hutchins and produced by Hogarth and Founded which is available on YouTube. Called "I Will Be Next", it features ten SportsAid athletes with big aspirations.
Once a year SportsAid holds its One-to-Watch Award at its annual SportsBall in London. Previous winners include
Tom Daley, Team GB hockey player
Harry Martin, sprinter Sally Brown and gymnast Courtney Tulloch. SportsAid is registered in England and Wales as charity 1111612 and in Scotland as Scottish Sports Aid SC 000468.
Catherine, Princess of Wales
Catherine, Princess of Wales (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982), is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne.
Born in Reading, Catherine grew ...
, has been patron of the charity since April 2013. Retired sprinter
Yasmin Liverpool is a member of the National Awards Committee.
See also
*
Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme
References
{{Reflist
External links
Official website
Funding bodies in the United Kingdom
Organisations based in the London Borough of Southwark
Sport in the London Borough of Southwark
Sports organisations of the United Kingdom
Youth sport in the United Kingdom