24 February 2010

The Wells Sports Foundation has announced that its Sports Grants scheme is now open for applications. This exciting new initiative means that athletics clubs across the UK can apply for grants between £500 and £2,000 to help aid them in their own development.  

The Wells Sports Foundation’s primary objective is to encourage greater participation in sports at grassroots level, and it is the founder Barrie Well’s belief that this can be achieved through supporting sustainable projects which share the same goals and vision, to create a lasting legacy for British sport. The first closing date for receiving applications will be the 10th March 2010.

The Wells Sports Foundation was officially launched last November when the Foundation announced the first 15 Olympic Athletes that would be acting as its Ambassadors, in return for private funding from Barrie, to aid their own training and development. Both the athletes and Barrie believe that the personal funding they receive can make a significant difference towards their own development in professional sport and seriously enhance their chances of winning a medal at the London 2012 games.

The 15 athletes have all been personally selected by Barrie Wells, and part of their role as Ambassadors is to act as mentors, to inspire and encourage the next generation to participate in sport. In the coming months, all of the athletes will be involved in visiting grassroots sports projects as part of the Sporting Ambassador scheme which is due to launch in March.

Five of the 15 are from athletics:

• Jessica Ennis is Patron of The Wells Sports Foundation and Gold medal winner in the Heptathlon at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin

• Katarina Thompson,16, who struck Gold in the Heptathlon at the 2009 IAAF World Youth Athletics Championships in Italy. 

• Jodie Williams, 16, is the youngest Ambassador of The Wells Sports Foundation.  Jodie won Gold in the 100m and 200m at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Italy.

• Steph Twell, 20, is one of Britain’s most promising athletes,  Steph won Gold at the 2008 World 1500m Junior Championships and was European Junior Cross Country Champion in 2006, 2007 and 2008. 

• Michael Rimmer has been a successful middle distance athlete at every age group and has been performing well in major international championships since 2007.  He was the British 800m champion in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009

World Heptathlon Champion, Jessica Ennis, is the Patron of the Foundation.  Ennis said: “I’m delighted to be Patron of such a worthwhile foundation. It is so important that more young people are encouraged to get active and the extra funding for the development of clubs will definitely help to maintain and increase the long term development of British sport”

Barrie Wells, founder of the Wells Sports Foundation, adds: “I have always wanted to make a difference in the sporting arena and, alongside my private funding of future Olympians, I feel that extra funding would make a real difference to athletics clubs. One of our key criteria when issuing grants is that the money spent will seek to increase and sustain participation in sport. This will include funding projects that will develop and increase coaches and volunteers. I’ve been working behind-the-scenes on setting up the Foundation for a year now, so it’s incredibly exciting to be ready to start receiving applications.”

For further information and to make a grant application visit www.wellssportsfoundation.org