Funding boost for Aylesbury Vale sports talent
Archived press release
Date Published: 13/06/12
SportsAid presentation
Talented athletes across Aylesbury Vale are set to receive grants to help fund their pursuit of a gold medal at London 2012.
Aylesbury Vale District Council has donated £6,000 to the national SportsAid charity to give nine Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls the support they need to succeed.
Grant-aided athletes include 26-year-old Aylesbury swimmer Craig Gibbons, who has made the Great Britain squad for the London 2012 Olympics. Craig is the first Maxwell Swim Club member to represent Great Britain at an Olympics for 20 years.
Other recipients include 19-year-old wheelchair fencer Gemma Collis, who has been chosen to represent Great Britain at the Paralympic Games. Gemma, who lives in Weston Turville, took up wheelchair fencing when she joined Durham University last October and since then has represented Great Britain in the Malchow Wheelchair Fencing World Cup.
Another athlete to benefit is 29-year-old Aylesbury native Charlie Walker, who is part of the Great Britain sitting volleyball squad that has qualified for the Paralympics. The former army bomb disposal officer first competed in sitting volleyball at the 2009 Stoke Mandeville Amputee Games.
Bursaries will also be awarded to Ben Gregory (athletics), Ellen White (football), Huw Goodwin (handball), Monica Relph (rowing), Pamela Relph (rowing) and Lucy Chenery (swimming).
The funding will be used to help them access training and competitive opportunities, purchase equipment, and cover transport costs for attending regional and national events.
It’s the second time this year that AVDC has donated £6,000 to SportsAid to help local Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls.
Councillor David Thompson, Cabinet Member for Leisure, said: “These talented athletes are Aylesbury Vale’s best hopes for the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics and I’m delighted AVDC is able to help them. Within the Vale, there is a breadth and depth of sporting talent which, with our support, can go on to achieve great things on the national and international stage whilst their dedication to their chosen sport makes them marvellous role models for young people in our communities.”
As well as helping to support local Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, AVDC is planning an exciting summer of events and activities for all the community to celebrate London 2012. Events will include the Roald Dahl Games in Aylesbury’s Vale Park on 7 July and the Paralympic Flame Festival celebration on 28 August in Aylesbury town centre.
For more details about the events go www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/london2012 or call 01296 585301.