SportsAid is a UK charity that helps British athletes, typically 12-18 whose parents are their only other means of support.[1] The charity helps these athletes by giving them cash awards to help them meet the cost of training and competing.
Overview
In a typical year more than 1,500 sporting prospects receive SportsAid Awards of around £1,000 funded by the charity's partners, donors and supporters. These include Lloyds TSB,[2] Asda,[3] Eversheds,[4] Hogarth,[5][better source needed] Founded[6] and the Jaguar Academy of Sport.[7][8]
At the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games two-thirds of the British athletes were SportsAid alumni,[9] winning 20 Olympic and 27 Paralympic gold medals between them. Famous alumni include Sir Bradley Wiggins, Dame Sarah Storey, Sir Steve Redgrave, David Weir CBE, Sir Chris Hoy, Baroness Grey-Thompson and Sir Ben Ainslie.[10]
London 2012 generated a lot of support for SportsAid's work and to maintain this in 2013 the charity launched a new campaign called "I Will". This campaign is led by a film directed by Morgan Hutchins and produced by Hogarth and Founded which is available on YouTube.[11] Called "I Will Be Next", it features ten SportsAid athletes with big aspirations.
Once a year SportsAid holds its One-to-Watch Award at its annual SportsBall in London. Previous winners include Tom Daley, Team GB hockey player Harry Martin,[12] sprinter Sally Brown[13] and gymnast Courtney Tulloch.[14] SportsAid is registered in England and Wales as charity 1111612[15] and in Scotland as Scottish Sports Aid SC 000468.[16] Catherine, Princess of Wales, has been patron of the charity since April 2013.[17]