64 talented young athletes from Cardiff received awards last week from a £36,000 fund – thanks to leisure charitable social enterprise GLL, which manages Cardiff’s Better Leisure Centres on behalf of Cardiff Council.
The local athletes will be supported through the GLL Sport Foundation, the largest independent athlete support programme in the UK, which this year marks its 14th year of supporting today and tomorrow’s athletes.
A presentation event took place at Glamorgan Cricket Ground Stadium, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff last week (Wednesday 11th May) when winners were announced. Supported athletes will benefit from free gym and swim memberships and access to sports science, medical support and employment opportunities.
Dawn Bowden MS, Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport attended the event to congratulate the winners which included pararower Benjamin Pritchard, table tennis champion Anna Hursey and Rugby player Elinor Snowshill . The Rhodri Morgan Award was presented to swimmer Kaden Edwards.
At the event, Peter Bundey, Sport Foundation Chair, paid tribute to the athletes, programme stakeholders and also highlighted the impact the Foundation is making to reduce inequalities across a wide range of sports.
He said: “These last 2 years since the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic have had an unprecedented impact across sport especially with younger emerging talent.
“For young talented athletes, restrictions of their training, travel and competitions appear to have impacted significantly. But these awards offer a welcome boost for athletes to continue the richly diverse sports they love and excel in – allowing us to reach deep into communities across the UK to remove barriers to participation.
“Since the Foundation began, we have now given nearly 20,000 athlete awards, totalling nearly £13million of support. I would like to give heartfelt thank all our sponsors, partners and supporters, who remain the lifeblood of this fantastic GLL initiative. I would also like to thank SportsAid for their continued partnership and the athletes who have continued to support us over the last two years and look forward to being with you for years to come”.
Rhys Jones, Head of Service Better Cardiff, commented:
“The wealth of young sporting talent within Cardiff’s local communities is truly inspiring. We are delighted to play our part in supporting the development of sporting talent across the city where GLL operates sports and leisure facilities. The GLL Sport Foundation keeps local communities’ sporting dreams alive after pandemic hiatus and through the cost-of-living crisis.”
