Isle of Man Sport Aid is delighted to announce that World Cycling Champion Mark Cavendish is to make a substantial personal donation to help create a number of sports scholarships for the benefit of young sporting talent.
The surprise announcement which was made at Thursday night’s Isle of Man Sports Awards, with Mark present, was one of the highlights of the evening.
The first recipients of these prestigious awards are Chris Nicholson from cycling and up and coming swimmers Charlotte Atkinson and Laura Kinley. In addition, further support will be provided to a programme being established by Isle of Man Cycling for young riders to attend British Cycling Regional School of Racing camps under the banner of Cavendish Racing Isle of Man Cycling.
Mark, who was supported by Isle of Man Sport Aid from 2000 to 2005 and commented on stage:
“This Island produces so many great sportspeople across all sports but you can’t show it when you live on an island, you need to get away and I was able to do that due to the help from Sports Aid Foundation. It was a great help to me going away each weekend on the Steam Packet but even with their support sometimes needed more..... I’m now in a position where I can help people who are literally in the same boat that I was a few years ago.”
Gary Corkhill, Chairman of Isle of Man Sport Aid later added:
“We are thrilled that Mark has made this very generous offer and he can be sure that it will be making a difference to some of our up and coming sporting talent.
We were pleased to assist Mark in the early part of his career and it is marvellous that he is now in a position to offer us help in return. What could be more motivational for any young sportsperson, particularly a cyclist, than to be supported by a sporting superstar.”
Isle of Man Sport Aid is a registered charity established by Isle of Man Sport to assist the most talented of the Isle of Man’s sportsmen and women. Amongst those either currently supported or who have been supported in recent years are Mark Cavendish, David Knight, Peter Kennaugh, Zoe Gillings and Conor Cummins. In 2006 Sport Aid established the Isle of Man Institute of Sport which became the Isle of Man Sport Institute when a new purpose built facility was opened at the NSC in 2009.
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