Talented Hucknall athletes can now bid for slice of £50,000 council funding pot

Nottinghamshire County Council has more than doubled its current Talented Athletes funding pot to £50,000 to help more up-and-coming athletes recognise their potential in their chosen sport, particularly those competing in disability/parasports who may require expensive adapted equipment, clothing, or have higher transport costs.

Grants up to £1,000 are now available for Nottinghamshire athletes who have represented their country at national athletic events in the last 24 months, which includes a range of Sport England-recognised sports, from speed skating to swimming and from fencing to table tennis, and have until 31 December 2021 to apply.

Coun John Cottee (Con) chairman of the council’s communities committee, said: “On the back of such a fantastic Olympics and Paralympics for Team GB, we are keen to support a wider range of local athletes, so we have increased this part of the budget from £21,000 to £50,000.

"We know that competing at a high level can be very expensive.

“We want to see more Nottinghamshire-based athletes follow in the footsteps of inspirational sports stars such as Charlotte Henshaw, the paracanoe champion at the Tokyo games, who received support from our Talented Athletes fund on her journey to success.”

Local sports stars to have also previously received this funding include gymnasts Sam Oldham, Becky Downie and Ellie Downie, swimmer Ollie Hynd, athletes Richard Whitehead and Sophie Hahn and showjumper Sophie Wells.

Kerryn Chamberlin, strategic director, of Active Notts, said: “We would love budding athletes all over the county apply to this fund, no matter what their background.

“These grants can really help overcome some of the financial challenges that competitive sport creates for people, such as travel expenses, equipment, coaching fees or even gym memberships.

"For our local athletes, this opportunity might be their path towards competing at the Olympics, Paralympics or Special Olympics, and is not one to be missed.”

The deadline for applications is Friday, December 31, click here to apply.