On a night full of inspiration as Scotland’s top athletes, coaches and volunteers received recognition for their achievements at the Team Scotland Scottish Sports Awards, there was cause for further celebration for the next generation of Scottish sporting stars with close to £10,000 raised for the Team Scotland Youth Trust (TSYT).

As the Trust celebrates its 30th anniversary, the generosity of those in the room and those supporting via social media means that TSYT is now well on the way to reaching its ambitious target of raising £30,000 by the next Commonwealth Youth Games in 2021 to help fund future generations of athletes.

Reliant on donations and fundraising events, the Trust has, since 1989, supported aspiring young Scottish athletes through scholarships and awards, with many past beneficiaries going on to win Commonwealth, Olympic, World and European medals. These have included several stars of Team Scotland’s recent Games success, such as boxer Charlie Flynn, badminton player Kirsty Gilmour, shooter Jennifer McIntosh, swimmer Craig Benson and hurdler Eilidh Doyle.

Over the past 30 years more than £500,000 has been distributed to athletes across several strands. These include the PHM Athlete Award, which provides individual awards of up to £1000 to aspiring athletes under the age of 26, scholarships to student athletes studying at the University of Stirling (home of Team Scotland) and the Achieve Programme run up to and during the Commonwealth Games to give potential future members of Team Scotland a mentored, behind the scenes experience of the Games.

Among the 18 current recipients of the PHM Athlete Award are Gold Coast 2018 medallists Scott McLay (Swimming) and Kelvin Cham (Gymnastics), as well as Vicky Glover, who earlier this year became the first Scottish female boxer to win a European Championship medal with bronze at the EUBC U22 Championships in Russia.

This year has also seen para-sport athletes recognised for the first time, with European Para-Athletics Championships silver medallist Ross Patterson and aspiring Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games archer, Cameron Radigan, receiving awards.

With rising stars currently supported by the Team Scotland Youth Trust joining World, Olympic and Commonwealth champions from across the generations for the Team Scotland Scottish Sports Awards, it was fitting that the benefactor behind the Youth Trust’s PHM Athlete Award, Paul Morron MBE, was the deserving recipient of the Team Scot of the Year award. His incredibly generous donations over many years have helped to support over 90 athlete financial awards across 18 sports.

The Team Scotland Youth Trust goes into 2020 looking to keep the momentum going towards their fundraising target. The coming year will see the 20th anniversary of the first Commonwealth Youth Games and a celebration of the instrumental role TSYT played in the creation of this now global event.

Even a small contribution can make a huge difference to an athlete’s sporting journey and can show them that others believe that they have the potential to achieve success. Help the Team Scotland Youth Trust reach their goal by clicking here – with your help we can support more of the many young athletes who apply to the TSYT each year.

To get involved in mentoring or longer term financial support please contact Helen at tsyouthtrust@teamscotland.scot or phone 01786 466 480.