More than 100 athletes across Cumbria are getting financial and practical support to help with the often-unseen costs of competing in sport.
The GLL Sport Foundation has selected 104 Cumbrian athletes aged between nine and 66 for its 2026 awards, with support across the county totalling £72,600.
The funding can help cover coaching, equipment, travel and competition fees. Recipients also get free access to GLL’s Better-branded leisure centres, giving athletes somewhere to train without another recurring .
Paralympic bronze medallist Anna Nicholson, who began her athletics journey in Cumbria and has cerebral palsy, returned to the launch event to share her experience with this year’s recipients.
The national foundation has distributed nearly 35,000 awards worth almost £20 million across 121 sports since it began. Its aim is to make talent, rather than somebody’s ability to absorb travel and equipment costs, a bigger factor in how far an athlete can go.