Local sporting stars awarded bursaries

As the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Games finally gets underway most of us will start to think about Team GBs prospects at biggest sporting event on the planet. None more so than 3 young athletes who have been selected for funding by SportsAid Eastern. SportsAid is well known in Milton Keynes as the national charity which enriches the lives of talented young athletes by recognising and nurturing their abilities through and beyond sport.

Now in its fifth year, the partnership between SportsAid and MK Community Foundation has never been stronger, or more needed. SportsAid Eastern’s Chairman, Mark Ormerod reflected on the past 18 months, “at a time of huge suffering and sacrifice, as a charity we have struggled, as our income has fallen by around 85%. The knock-on effect of this has been less funding available to support elite young athletes who don’t yet qualify for lottery support. Our partnership with MK Community Foundation is vital in helping young athletes meet the cost of training and competing and keeping the dream alive for perhaps one day competing at the Olympic or Paralympic Games”.

Ian Revell, CEO for MK Community Foundation “we recognised the huge financial impact that the pandemic has had on sports after what has been a tough time for many, especially young athletes it is our pleasure to be able to support them on their athlete journey and development”.

The athletes and their relatives met at Jurys Inn to receive their awards. Jurys Inn has been the host venue for the MK SportsAid lunches for the past decade and kindly hosted this special lunch in support of the athletes to mark the start of the Tokyo Games. SportsAid will restart its fundraising activities again in the Autumn with the first lunch scheduled for the 1stOctober at Jurys Inn.

Joining the athletes and their parents was SportsAid regional sponsor adidas. From their Global Operations Team, Alistair Perks and Tamara Boon were only too happy hand across adidas kit for the athletes and commented “Through sport, we have the power to change lives' is our purpose and we live it every day by expanding the limits of human possibilities, by including and uniting people in sport and by creating a more sustainable world. ‘Own the Game’, our adidas strategy taking us to 2025, clearly defines our business purpose and by supporting such a great charity, SportsAid, who foster growth in sport we are contributing to this purpose. Huge congratulations to the athletes and their future in sport and beyond. Our Attitude at adidas is “Impossible is Nothing”, harness this optimism and drive through action and you will see the endless possibilities to succeed.

Badminton player, Annie Lado said: ‘Thank you so much to you and the foundation for this award, it’ll be so helpful :)’

Fellow Badminton player, Lisa Curtin said: ‘Thank you very much. This will be great help towards the increased cost of travelling to international tournaments once restrictions are relaxed a bit.’

Para-Equestrian, Laura Gulliver said: ‘As you can imagine I am more than thrilled!’