28 Jun 2002

Interserve Plc has given its first charitable donation of £25,000 to sports charity SportsAid. The organisation helps the development of young sporting talent not old enough to receive Lottery funding.

Mike Bottjer, Interserve's Chaiman, welcomed SportsAid executives, sportsmen and young canoeists to the corporate headquarters at Ruscombe Park, Twyford, on Thursday 13th June 2002 to shake hands on this important donation.

Attending were Reading canoeist Paul Owen, Chief Executive of the British Canoe Union and a member of SportsAid Southern Senior Management Team, and Jan Brady, Chief Executive of SportsAid Southern. The local young paddlers who brought their canoes with them were: Tom Daniels, who is 16 and already a promising junior paddler, a regular member if the GB team and a recipient last year of a SportsAid grant; and Abi Cattle, grantee in earlier years who, at 21, has established herself in the senior ranks of sprint paddlers and is hoping to represent GB at the Athens Olympics.

SportsAid is the national charity whose sole purpose is to help financially the development of young sporting talent between the ages of 12 and 18 where Lottery funding does not reach, across some 60 sports from archery to yachting. The charity raises funds from private individuals, companies and trusts to help parents pay for travelling and competition expenses, equipment and treatments for injuries.