Olympic 2020 swimming hopeful and GSF Athlete Jack McMillan with fellow GSF Athlete Amelia Kane at the opening of the new Lisnasharragh Leisure Centre.
Ahead of a huge year of world sport in 2020, Belfast’s next generation of aspiring athletes can apply for support, thanks to the GLL Sport Foundation (GSF).
The UK’s largest independent athlete support programme, the GSF was launched in 2008 by charitable social enterprise GLL and supports athletes in Northern Ireland and across the UK to achieve their sporting ambitions.
Social enterprise GLL is the operator of all publicly owned leisure centres in Belfast and the GSF is part of its commitment to helping young athletes in the local community reach their sporting potential.
Supported athletes can benefit from financial support, physiotherapy, gym memberships at GLL’s Better sport and leisure facilities and more.
In 2019, GSF supported over 3,000 athletes across 117 sporting disciplines, taking its total investment to £11 million in 11 years.
Previously, this support has contributed to the success of athletes including World Heavy Weight Boxing Champion Anthony Joshua and four-time Paralympian, Michael McKillop.
At the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, GSF-supported athletes won a total of 22 medals.
Sally Gunnell OBE, Patron of GLL Sport Foundation said:
“It’s fantastic to see the continued support of athletes across the UK through the GLL Sport Foundation.
“GSF recognises the difficulty that many talented athletes face in getting the necessary support to take the next step into elite competition, with 96% of GSF athletes receiving no additional funding. With a massive year of sport coming up, this support will be even more important as many athletes begin to target major honours.”
Gareth Kirk, GLL Regional Director added:
“As a social enterprise, GLL continues to invest in these talented athletes within our communities through the GLL Sport Foundation. In the past year, we have been able to support 199 of Northern Ireland’s great sporting talent with £70,000 in funding, and with the opening of our new centres in Belfast, the facilities for training are getting even better.”
“GSF provides a fantastic support for some of our most promising young athletes and it’s an honour to be able to support them as they compete at the highest levels in their chosen sport.”
“We are proud to once again partner with the Mary Peters Trust, SportsAid and SportsAid Wales to support the next generation of medal contenders and we are excited to receive this year’s applications.”
Applications can be submitted via the GLL Sport Foundation website from 20th December 2019 to 20th February 2020.