Eleven more talented young people from Leicestershire & Leicester benefit from JHMT's Inspire Awards

Alysa Hillyer, Toby Nicholas, Emily Walne, Fatima Omarji, Julie Freestone, Max Murray, Daisy Bruce, Arabelle Goodwin, Harry Collier, Darcie Platts and Sean McCann have each received Inspire Awards from local charity the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust (JHMT) to help them reach their goals in sport, creative arts, music, community, and business.

Inspire Awards are small grants of up to £500 from the JHMT. The awards were set up to help young people aged 13-21 from Leicester and Leicestershire to fulfil their ambitions in the fields of music, arts, sports, entrepreneurism and community endeavour. Since the awards' inception in 2014, £48,000 has been awarded to help 255 x young people to do some amazing things.

The JHMT was set up in memory of Leicester teenager Joe Humphries, who collapsed and died in October 2012 while out jogging near his family home in Rothley, Leicestershire. Joe was a victim of sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS) – a group of lethal heart diseases which can cause sudden cardiac death in young people. The JHMT provides free CPR training, helps to fund community defibrillators and campaigns for better understanding of SADS, as well as running the Inspire Awards small grants scheme to support young people.

Max Murray is 14 years of age and from Rothley, Leicestershire. This talented young BMX rider has a burning ambition to one day become a racing professional. He's currently a member of the Alvaston BMX club based in Derby.

Max said: " This grant award (£300) means everything to me I love everything BMX. It is my only hobby. I could go to the track much more out of coaching sessions to improve my A game and give me the opportunity to go on to nationals in the future."

Arabelle Goodwin is 19 years of age. Her passion is playing Handball, a sport should has found a connection with since September 2022 which has since propelled her into having the opportunity to become an elite performance athlete for England Handball whilst studying for her A levels at Loughborough College during the next two years.

Arabelle said: "After reading other athletes' profiles, JHMT has made me realise that things like this don't just come around because of luck, it takes hard work and dedication to achieve your goals. With the help of JHMT's Inspire grant Award (£300), the burden of funding becomes lighter, and I can now focus on both the sport I love and completing my A-levels with top grade".

Harry Collier is 18 years of age and a young sportsman who is following his dream of becoming a professional footballer. Despite a number of setbacks, his perseverance, consistent performances and hard work has resulted in been offered a 2 Year Football & Education Scholarship at Fox Academy (run by Christian Fuchs ex LCFC), and an opportunity to achieve a Level 3 qualification in Sports. This has also kept his dream alive of one day becoming a professional footballer.

Harry said: "The Inspire Award (£300) award means everything to me. Inspire is supporting me to pursue my dream, helping cover costs that I will incur to attend showcase games in the UK and abroad to show off my talent in the next 12 months, plus the purchase of boots for the different playing surfaces."

Darcie Platts is 15 years of age, from Whetstone and is one of Leicestershire's brightest swimming prospects. She currently attends Lutterworth College, whilst following her passion to compete at Commonwealth level in competitive swimming. Having moved up to train in the National Youth Squad at the City of Leicester Swimming Club, Darcie has been invited to represent Leicestershire at the County Teams Gala in October and has also qualified for numerous events at the short course Regionals in November and the Winter Nationals in December.

Darcie said: "Thanks to support from JHMT, the Inspire grant award (£300) will go towards the purchase of a new racing suit and some new fast-skin racing goggles.

Sean McCann is 18 years of age, from Rothley, Leicestershire and is another one of Leicestershire's up and coming young swimmers. He competes in the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle, as well as 10k open water and made international appearances in the Youth Commonwealth Games for Team Scotland in Trinidad and Tobago, and at the European junior open water championships in Corfu for Great Britain.

Sean said: "The Inspire grant Awards (£400) will help me to fund travel and accommodation for the Scottish National swimming championships in Edinburgh, where I will gain valuable racing experience prior to the Olympic swimming trials in April 2024."

Other young people to benefit from an Inspire grant include Alysa Hillyer, Toby Nicholas, Emily Walne, Fatima Omarija, Julie Freestone and Daisy Bruce.

Simon Taylor, JHMT Inspire lead, said: "It's really uplifting to see so many talented young people from the city and county working so hard to achieve their goals. We are so pleased to hear that the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust Inspire grants continue to help young people make a difference and be the best they can be."

To find out more about the JHMT and the Inspire Awards, visit www.jhmt.org.uk