Alumni Testimonials

“When I got my first SportsAid award it was an incredible feeling. I was trying to make it into the team and you get hints that there is the potential to progress. The money went towards my second basketball chair so it was incredibly important. Without a quality chair and proper equipment, it’s really difficult to make it to that next level so for me it was absolutely vital. SportsAid will always be relevant because people will always need that help, they will always need that boost. To have a charity like SportsAid that is there and able to provide financial backing for equipment, for coaches, all of those really important needs when an athlete is at a crucial stage of their career, where they’re just on the cusp of making it to the Great Britain team, but they haven’t quite got the support, it’s invaluable.” 

“I really feel like SportsAid was a turning point for me, and the point where I went from knowing that I could potentially be a champion - with my mum as my biggest fan - to actually being recognised outside of my sport and in the wider community as one to watch. It was a big reward for all the hard work I’d put in so far. Financially as well, coming from a single parent home where my mum was working in low-paid jobs and struggling, that help was really the reassurance that we both needed. It said to us ‘everything that we’re sacrificing for has been worth it’, and that better days are definitely coming and things would start to get easier. There were times when we were unable to afford to go to places, so the SportsAid money helped fund going to competitions.” 

“The support from SportsAid really does make a big difference. I was helped by them when I was starting out my career. It makes you feel valued and that you can keep going forward and do better in your sport. I’ve never forgotten that. If you get support from SportsAid, it’s recognition of how good you are as an athlete and that you do have a future. The help takes off a little bit of the pressure when it comes to making ends meet and being able to fit in the training, the travel and the preparation that you need to do. It also gives young athletes recognition as they start to think ‘I’m good at this, I’m getting recognised for it’ and it can give them more motivation and more determination to go on and do better afterwards. It’s a really big deal if you do get help from SportsAid.”