Sixteen young athletes have been tipped to make their mark at the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games by SportsAid and Sport England.
The rising stars were named as Sport England announced an investment of over half a million pounds of government funding into SportsAid over the next two years.
Over 300 representatives from local government, national governing bodies and county sports partnerships came together last month to discuss how best to join forces to deliver more and improved opportunities to play sport.
Minister for Sport Gerry Sutcliffe has visited Bisham Abbey to mark the completion of new £2 million elite training and rehabilitation facilities.
The investment by Sport England ensures home-grown athletes training for 2012 through the English Institute of Sport (EIS) will have access to the best possible facilities as they bid for Olympic and Paralympic gold.
Sport England has launched a drive to get more women from disadvantaged communities, and more women caring for children, playing sport. We're calling on community groups and sectors to make applications, including those who have not previously considered applying for funding.
World-class athletes are successfully persuading young people to play more sport and join their local sports clubs. Sport England's Sporting Champions programme brings current and recently retired sportsmen and women from a range of sports, including rugby, athletics, wheelchair basketball and freestyle football, face to face with youngsters involved with our Sport Unlimited programme.
While most bright ideas in the pub are forgotten by the morning, Cathy Rooney's resulted in 150 women in Nottinghamshire taking up running, many for the first time.
To acknowledge her innovation and tenacity, earlier this month Cathy was named Sport England's Community Club Volunteer of the Year at the Sunday Times 2009 Sports Women of the Year Awards.