Talented athletes who could be Great Britain’s Olympians of the future are to benefit from thousands of pounds of funding.

A pot of £16,000 is set to help 29 talented young athletes from Reigate and Banstead.

The cash was awarded by charitable and social enterprise Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) The GLL’s support programme for athletes, GLL Sport foundation (GSF) is the largest independent programme in the UK, it is in partnership with SportsAid and the Reigate and Banstead Council.

All of the athletes who have been supported compete in Olympic, Paralympic, Deaflympic and Special Olympic sporting disciplines.

The funding is always vital for these athletes because training and competition costs are so high and for the majority of the athletes who receive GSF funding it is the only funding that they will receive.

Former Olympic champion Sally Gunnell said: “It is vitally important that we inspire young people to excel in sport and harness their talent towards future Games”.

Matthew Brooks who is one of the GSF and Reigate and Banstead supported athletes and a GB junior water polo player, shows that even at a young age that the funding is setting him up for a future for competing in the elite level of sport, even while recovering from an injury.

“I continued my water polo career this year until suffering an injury while competing in August at a 5 day GB U19 camp in Croatia playing in an international tournament “This award helps with my recovery programme with gym work and swimming either locally or at Crystal Palace”.

Niamh Brown another athlete who is supported by the GSF and Reigate and Banstead council is proof of how the funding is vital when supporting her journey from junior to adult teams. “