SportsAid’s Patron is Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge and the charity’s chairman is former Great Britain rower Chris Baillieu – a silver medallist at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games.

Since 1976, SportsAid has supported tens of thousands of athletes including Chris Baillieu, Sir Steve Redgrave, Matthew Pinsent CBE, Katherine Grainger CBE, James Cracknell OBE, Katherine Copeland MBE, Annie Vernon, Helen Glover MBE, Zac Purchase MBE, Vicki Hansford, Greg Searle MBE, Constantine Louloudis, Sarah Winckless MBE, Mark Hunter MBE, Tom Aggar,  Sophie Hosking MBE, Mohamed Sbihi, Will Satch and George Nash.

SportsAid Awards are typically given to athletes aged between 12 and 18 years old when they mainly rely on their parents for support. The Awards are distributed annually and normally to the value of £1,000. The financial support helps to cover certain costs associated with training and competing such as transport, accommodation, equipment and nutrition.

Nomination process for rowing

British Rowing nominate athletes for SportsAid who show the potential to represent Great Britain at the Coupe de la Jeunesse (European Championships) or the Junior World Championships at the end of the season. Junior rowers will be given priority. Occasionally, U20 rowers may be considered so long as they are still in education and on no other funding (TASS or World Class).

Nomination process for para rowing

British Rowing nominates rowers with a minimum of a National Classification, and who are working towards, or have achieved, an International Classification. Athletes should be following the GB Rowing Team trial process and have the potential to achieve the respective talent time for their classification within the current season. Nominated rowers are believed to have the long-term potential to represent Great Britain at the World Championships or Paralympic Games.

For more information about SportsAid, head to their website:

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