ASPIRING athletes in Essex are being invited to apply for financial support to help them reach their potential.

Active Essex, Essex County Council and Southend on Sea Borough Council are pleased to announce funding to continue supporting talented athletes.

The 2016 round of “Inspired Athlete” funding is now open for applications and will be split between these potential Olympians, on the Road to Rio Olympics 2016 and other Essex athletes striving to improve their performance.

Chairman of Active Essex, Gary Sullivan OBE, said: “In order to maximise the potential for athletes participating on the ‘Road to the Rio Olympics 2016’, without compromising the support given to local athletes, we have decided, this year, to split the Inspired Athletes Award into two. This affords us a great opportunity in the run up to next year’s Games to continue the legacy of London 2012 and inspire the next generation of Olympians and Paralympians.”

Essex County Council’s Cabinet Member with responsibility for Sport and Physical Activity, Cllr Ray Gooding said: “The previous successes of our athletes demonstrate how vital this funding is for their development, and Essex County Council is proud to back these strategies to keep our young Essex athletes continuing to develop towards the top of their sports.”

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council’s Executive Councillor for Enterprise, Tourism and Economic Development, Councillor Graham Longley said: “These awards are a terrific way to support our promising local athletes, so we would encourage those eligible to apply.

“The awards demonstrate how much we are rooting for our talented sports people, and how we want to do our very best to help them aim for the top.

“At the same time, we also hugely value the contribution of our developing stars when they act as ambassadors so they can encourage and inspire others to reach for success too.”

Applications are open to all athletes who were born, live or belong to a club in Essex or Southend. Athletes can access a grant between £500- 1,000 in the Inspired Athlete Award and £1,500 in the Rio award. The application process will focus on athletes identifying the areas in which they could improve their performance and how they could use the funding from this grant to address this. (For example; a piece of equipment, additional physiotherapy, additional strength and conditioning or DNA testing etc).

Since the 2012 Olympics Active Essex has supported athletes throughout the county and Southend. The last six months have seen the current crop of Essex’s Inspired Athletes compete and excel on a number of different levels performing at regional, national and even at European and World Championships. They have also attended a range of school and community events to help inspire the next generation of athletes.

Applications are open now until 25 September and can be found on our website http://www.activeessex.org/funding/Inspired-Athletes/ along with guidance documents.

All award recipients must also be prepared to commit to undertaking a programme of ambassadorial duties, within schools, school games events and/or community events.