Local athletes achieve more thanks to the Mayor

The Team Ipswich Sports Foundation was one of three nominated charities and so far athletes including World Champion BMX racer Ria Goodman and Masters Swimming World Record holder Zoe Cray have benefited directly from grants.

Councillor Goldsmith said, "I am delighted that each of our chosen charities has benefited from our Mayoral year and hope that this contribution will go some way towards helping the people of Ipswich."

Ian Twinley, Chairman of the Team Ipswich Sports Foundation and John Grose, said "On behalf of Team Ipswich may I say a big thank you to Councillor Goldsmith and his wife Sue for choosing us as one of their charities. They worked incredibly hard in their year in office and raised a significant sum of money, from which Team Ipswich has benefited enormously and in turn so will members of the community in Ipswich."

Ria Goodman has just returned from South Africa where she competed in the BMX World Championship, becoming world champion in the female cruiser, age 25-34 category. She said, "This money is really important to me and will enable me to pay for travel and accommodation costs for future national and international championships."

Zoe Cray will be competing in the national championships in October where she stands a fantastic chance of winning gold. She is the current world record holder in the 50m Butterfly for the Masters Division age 35-39. Zoe said, "My Team Ipswich Sports Foundation grant will help me to compete at international level and hopefully to break more world records."

Team Ipswich Sports Foundation has already awarded grants worth more than £8,000, and the latest round of grants worth £2,500 has just been awarded to eight local athletes each aspiring to achieve their potential.

Other athletes who have benefited from the most recent round of grants are:

• Lewis Coleman, age 18, swimming;
• Heather Rodwell, age 15, swimming;
• Ryan R. Jay, age 17, karate;
• Jack E. Somers, age 16, karate;
• Janae Duporte-Clarke, age 10, gymnastics;
• Karlynn Edgeller, age 14, basketball.

For more information about Team Ipswich, including information about how to apply for funding from the Sports Foundation, please visit www.teamipswich.com.

Photo (left - right): Zoe Cray, Ria Goodman, Ian Twinley, Councillor David Goldsmith and Sue Goldsmith