Talented athletes in Wales are invited to apply for support from the largest athlete support programme of its kind in the UK. Awards include financial bursaries, free access to gyms, pools and other sports facilities, physiotherapy, lifestyle mentoring and mental health wellbeing support.
Celebrating its 18th year, the GLL Sport Foundation (GSF) Awards 2026 are now bigger and better than ever. A record-breaking £2m of bursaries and ‘in kind’ support for 2026 will enable talented young athletes to take part in the UK’s largest scheme of its kind.
In 2025, twenty-three champions were among the 98 athletes to receive GSF support worth £73k in Wales – among them Luca Phillips, who won three golds at the U17 British championships in long jump, hurdles and triple jump.
Operating under the Better brand, GLL is the charitable social enterprise and co-operative that runs seven leisure centres in Cardiff on behalf of the council. Successful GSF applicants are given free access to them and hundreds of other Better leisure facilities across the UK.
It has always been a core mission of the GSF programme to support young emerging talent on their sporting journey, with the majority of athletes under the age of 21 and the largest cohort under 18 years old. Across the programme, 88% of athletes who receive GSF Awards receive no other funding or athlete support – underlining the importance of the scheme to its athletes and to GLL’s social values.
With the success of UK’s athletes inspiring national pride as well as widening and deepening the positive impact of sport in local communities, GSF makes a firm claim to be the most successful independent athlete support programme of its kind in the UK.
Recipients have included Tom Daley, Ellie Simmonds, Anthony Joshua and Kimberley Woods, with past and present GSF athletes winning 77 medals at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Sally Gunnell, OBE, is GSF patron and partners involved in the programme include Mary Peters Trust, SportsAid, SportsAid Wales, sponsors from GLL’s supply chain and Switch The Play Foundation.
Sally Gunnell commented: “Young athletes in the UK have never needed support as much as they do today.
“The GSF programme grows each year – with many recipients becoming household names. I’m looking forward to meeting the sports stars of tomorrow who are starting or continuing their sporting journeys with GSF in 2026.”
Commenting on the launch of the GSF Awards 2026 GLL Transformation Manager Matt Simmons said: “Our GSF Awards provide a lifeline to individual athletes as well as inspiring other young people in our Welsh community.
“We encourage as many talented athletes as possible to look into the scheme and find out how they may benefit from our support.”
Jayne Morgans of SportsAidCymru said: “Every one of the GSF athletes I speak to amaze me with their stories of how every pound they receive helps them to improve and progress in their relevant sport. The gym and pool access helps them strengthen their bodies and even if injured still allows them to keep fit. The organisation of the presentation evening was excellent and it’s fantastic to see the achievements of everyone. When all the Welsh, British champions stood up it was quite emotional.”
Applications close on 20th February 2026.
