Training sessions are taking place at Finsbury Park Athletics Track, every Sunday from 10.30-12.30. If you wish to attend, please contact Courtney on 0207 686 0802/07951 720095 courtney.deutrom@aquaterra.org

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Elliot and Kai Innocent from Angel Islington have bagged £2,000 to help cover the costs of training and competing in their respective sports of Trampolining and Football.

The money comes jointly from SportIslington – a voluntary organisation funded by Islington Council and the Joanna Brown Trust – a registered charity set up in memory of a sports enthusiast from Highbury who tragically died three years ago.

Elliott (17), a nationally ranked trampolinist and Kai (11) a trainee with QPR beat off stiff competition to win the annual ‘Joanna Brown award for sporting excellence’.

After receiving the grant, seventeen-year-old Elliott said; ‘This grant will really help me in 2012, I will be able to enter more competitions and push for the British Team’. Elliott’s brother Kai, said; ‘this funding will help my mum and dad pay for my travelling costs and all of my kit costs’.

Richard Brown of the Joanna Brown Trust, explained why the joint grant with Sport Islington was so important; ‘It is great to be supporting Elliott & Kai. The aim of the joint grant is to provide talented young athletes with support and I know Jo would be in full agreement with the choice to fund Elliott and Kai. The relationship our trust has built with Sport Islington is fantastic and with their help we can continue to support more Islington athletes in the future’.

The Joanna Brown Trust have shown their commitment to supporting Islington athletes by continuing to independently fund Aasha Kimpton and George Durden, who received the award for sporting excellence in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

Declan Hamblin, Chairman of SportIslington, said “Combining forces with the Joanna Brown Trust enables both organisations to foster and develop a young talent for a whole year – it’s a great partnership that really helps an Islington resident reach their potential”

The Joanna Brown Trust was established in memory of 30-year-old Joanna Brown, a talented sports enthusiast who died in a trekking accident inSiberiain August 2008.

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The Boston & Nailour Tenants & Residents Association (TRA), have been supported for the last five years by Sport Islington, to run a weekly line dancing session on a Tuesday evening. The sessions regularly attract up 30 attendees to a community hall on Blundell Street N7. For the majority of the ladies who attend each week, it is the only form of rigorous exercise that they undertake on a regular basis. The line dancing sessions are not just a physical activity for the women who attend, they are a chance to meet other local people in a relaxed and inclusive setting. For some of the attendees, the Tuesday night sessions are the only time they will leave their homes after dark in the winter. Viv White of Boston & Nailour TRA, explained why the sessions were so important, not just for the health benefits but also for the social benefits to the participants; ‘Dancing is a happy physical sport and the health benefits are tremendous. While we are at the sessions, we do not worry about the stresses of life, for many of our members the sessions have been a life-saver. Not only do they feel healthier but they have socialised with people from all walks of life’. The line dancing sessions are an example of the sort of activity that Sport Islington is willing to fund. The participants are considered ‘non-traditional participants’ or a ‘hard to reach group’, the sessions are continuous and are in an accessible venue (near to the resident’s homes and accessible to people with disabilities), the organisation applying for funding (the TRA) are constituted with a managing committee and independent bank account.

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Harry grew up near Islington’s Ironmonger Row Baths, where he first took to the water aged three.

Now he has been entered in the trials for next year’s Olympics, and is in the water by 6am most mornings, spending six to eight hours training, six days a week.

Former Moorfields Primary School pupil Harry, who specialises in butterfly, said: “I knew swimming was for me from a very early age, and I’ve never lost my love for the sport.

“You have to be extremely dedicated and be willing to sacrifice quite a lot. I don’t have nights out – swimming always comes first.”

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