Funding available for Chesterfield athletes

Financial support is now on offer to help Chesterfield athletes follow in the footsteps of major championship medal winner, Liam Pitchford (pictured below).

The Derbyshire ICON bursary programme is now open for this year’s applications and also provides access to a free leisure pass and valuable PR exposure.

A total of 15 athletes from the Chesterfield area benefited from ICON support in 2014-2015, sharing a total of £2,250.

Among them was Newbold athlete Alicia Barrett, who finished sixth in the 100m hurdles final of the IAAF World Youth Championships after setting a new United Kingdom under-18 record in her heat.

Another to benefit has been Brampton tennis player Bradley Buckland (pictured right), who qualified to play at Wimbledon in the HSBC Road to Wimbledon 14 and Under Challenge.

There have been 131 athletes in all from across the county on the Derbyshire Sport-run programme over the past 12 months, awarded bursaries totalling £21,925.

That was made possible by the contributions of all 10 Derbyshire local authorities, plus a number of business members from across the county.

To qualify, applicants must live in one of the county’s nine districts or compete for a Derbyshire-based club and must already compete at a high level in a sport recognised by Sport England.

All should already be representing their country or Great Britain, have won a national championship medal, are part of a recognised development squad or a development squad aligned to a professional club or have been selected for the Derbyshire Institute of Sport.

The closing date for applications is Friday September 25. For more information visit http://www.derbyshiresport.co.uk/icon-applications