Date posted 18 Jan 2018
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GLL, Charitable social enterprise and the UK’s largest leisure operator is set to support Merton athletes in 2018 through their athlete support programme, the ‘GLL Sport Foundation’.

 

The GLL Sport Foundation is an athlete focussed support programme providing athletes across the UK with tangible support to aid their sports performance, support includes training membership access to over three hundred venues across the UK, access to physio and injury rehab support and financial awards up to the value of £1,250.

 

Applications for athletes are open until 20th February 2018 via the website portal – www.gllsportfoundation.org

 

Across the UK it is projected three thousand athletes will be supported in 2018; it will mark a special milestone for the UK’s largest independent athlete support programme as the programme turns ten years, over which period it will have provided sixteen thousand athlete awards at a value of £9million.

 

The Foundation is directly aligned to National Governing Body of sport talent pathways, and with National partnerships with SportsAid and the Mary Peters Trust it ensures that the right awards are provided to the right athletes at the right time.

 

These partnerships ensures that the Foundation can make most impact to athletes that are transitioning from national to international level and with 74% of athletes being aged under twenty one and 87% of athletes receiving no other funding support, the impact of the Foundation is significant.

 

Supported athlete Tarriq Roach, fencing, 13yrs, selected for U17 GB fencing team explained “Despite the fact that I am a part of team GB, I still have to finance international competitions for my coach and me. This involves the cost of; training, flights, car hire, train and bus fares, accommodation, food, equipment, competition entry fees, team GB kit and the expenses for the team GB coaches and referees. My aim is to compete in more international competitions in order to climb up the world rankings, which is crucial, especially in the future to compete in the Olympics. It would sadly be a waste of my potential and talent to stop now due to me having insufficient funding, this is why I am so grateful for the funding from the GLL Sport Foundation in partnership with SportsAid.”

 

Video interview snapshot from double Olympic taekwondo medallist and ambassador Lutalo Muhammad - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaaLcJwPnPI