Lexii Hubbard, Chloe Schole, Gabrille Norman, Issac Gosling, Ryan Howard, Lewis Lansdowne, Alex Budding, Jenny Lin and Oliver Davies 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, £55,000 has been awarded to help 273 x young people move a step nearer to achieving their goals.

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.

Lexii Hubbard is 13 years of age and from Enderby, Leicestershire and a member of the Leicestershire Premier Stars cheerleading team who are aiming to compete in the German All Level Championships in Dusseldorf in March 2024.

Lexii said: " When I first started I would never in my wildest dreams have thought that I would even get to go once, let alone potentially go back again to the World Championships, One day, my dream is to compete for Team England and also compete in the Olympics and look back on where it all started as an excitable 5-year-old that just wanted a new hobby.

"I am so grateful to the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust's Inspire Grant Awards scheme for supporting me in my journey to help me develop as an athlete. The grant ( £250) will massively help me and my team on our journey to Germany."

Gabriella Norman is 17 years of age and from Leicester and is another member of the Leicestershire Premier Stars cheerleading team who is aiming to compete in the German All Level Championships in Dusseldorf in March 2024. This young cheerleader has been a member of the club for the past 10 years and is also having to battle with personal health challenges. Being a member of the club has proved to be the best tonic with great support from family, coaches, members and medical staff.

Gabrielle said: "I would like to thank the Inspire Awards Scheme for all their support for me to develop as a person and an athlete. The funding will help massively with getting to and competing in Germany. It will aid with travel costs, getting a kit, hiring a place to train while abroad and even more - which is otherwise only funded by parents and donations. I cannot express the amount of gratitude I have for the grant aid (£200)."

Issac Gosling is 16 years of age and from Kirby Muxloe, Leicestershire and currently in his first year studying BTEC in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering (Motor Sport) at Loughborough College. Inspired by his brother Sam, he took up rowing 3 years ago at Leicester Rowing Club and is a member the junior squad.

Issac said: " On a personal level, rowing has not only supported my physical health, but has also given me confidence, both on and off the water. Rowing teaches discipline and teamwork, as you have to work together to reach the end goal. I would encourage anyone to go and find a sport which they can enjoy and benefit from. I also feel that it is important to inspire and encourage new members, who wish to try rowing. I enjoy helping with learn to row courses, and I have recently become the Junior Rep on the committee at the club."

"I am extremely grateful to the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust for their support with the Inspire grant (£205). This has allowed me to buy a stroke coach which will aid me in my training, as it monitors precisely how I am performing in the boat." Issac added.

Ryan Howard is 21 years of age and from Leicester and is a member of Leicester Panthers (American Football team). He came across American football whilst studying at University and during this time he was encouraged by other high-level players and coaches to stay with sport. This has led to representing the men's GB Team and an opportunity has come about to play in Canada.

Ryan said "I am very grateful for receiving this grant (£300) from the JHMT as it has allowed me to increase my budget to fund the travel to Canada to play in the CJFL as well as fund the purchase of the kit which I will need once I am out there."

Young Lewis Lansdowne is 14 years of age and from Ravenstone, Leicestershire having found a passion for Down Hill Mountain Bike Racing. This very talented, competitive and fearless young cyclist is determined to reach the top of this exciting sport. Lewis said "Downhill mountain biking is pure adrenaline filled and gravity fuelled excitement that requires skill, speed, and bravery. Basically, its which rider can get down to the bottom of the hill the fastest. The hill is usually a mountain, the course is anything but smooth and the risks are enormous. I absolutely love the challenge and the physical demands of the sport."

" I would like to thank the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust for their grant support ( £350), as this will allow me to replace and buy additional protective equipment." Lewis added.

Alex Budding is 18 years of age from Anstey, Leicestershire and is talented young performing artist who has a passion and talent for musical theatre. She has taken every opportunity to gain invaluable experience throughout her schooling at both primary and secondary by securing leading roles in musical shows. This has also included studying drama at GCSE level and now continuing that into year 12 as she prepares to take her A Levels.

This burning ambition to succeed in the performing arts sector has resulted in a successful audition to be part of Curve Young Company at Curve Leicester and being offered a place in the Musical Theatre group. Since having a successful audition for National Youth Musical Theatre (NYMT), Alex has secured place at one of their residential weeks to help improve her skills and knowledge and gain a real insight into how to work within the theatre industry.

Alex said:" The Inspire grant ( £300) will help me cover some of the costs of the NYMT residential week of which I'm truly grateful as I've always dreamed of one day performing at the Theatre. It's a dream come true."

Jenny Lin is 19 years of age and from Barwell, Leicester. From starting out as a novice she has advanced within a few years to marathon running status which is a huge achievement!

Jenny said: "I began running in lockdown during Covid-19 before which I was generally quite inactive and had never really participated in any sports. I remember struggling to run the 800m race on sports day in secondary school, which seems crazy to me now as I am training for something over 50 times the same distance.

"I am extremely grateful to the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust's Inspire Awards scheme for supporting me in my journey and helping me develop as a young athlete. With an Inspire grant support (£200) will help me purchase a new pair, and a pair of running shoes, as my current shoes have come to the end of their lifespan. Thanks to JHMT Inspire I am now able to level up my training and improve my sports performance."

Chloe Schole is 17 years of age and from Thulaston, Leicestershire. This talented actress and dancer aims to one day is to perform on the West End as a main character in a show with my dream being Les Miserables. This year she was invited to audition for Les Miserables Junior, and this led to taking up the leading female part; Fantine.

Chloe said: " I recently successfully auditioned to be a part of the Jodie Steele Elites squad. Being granted the JHMT award (£300) to help me to attend the squad will mean I am able to take my training to the next level."

Oliver Davies is 14 years of age and an exceptional young swimming talent from Rothley, Leicestershire. Oliver Davies is 15 years of age and a member of the City of Leicester Swimming Club. He's already the Junior Champion in the Leicestershire and Rutland County for the 400m, 800m and 1500m and on the Swim England National Age Group Pathway (2023-2024) with a burning ambition to swim at the Olympics and represent Team GB.

Oliver said: "The Inspire grant from the Trust will go towards the cost to help me to attend the swim camp in Tenerife to help my performance and train hard in a state-of-the-art high performance Sports complex. Many National swim teams have used the centre such as Great Britain, Italy, France, Japan, Russia, Portugal and Switzerland. The centre attracts many Elite Swimming Clubs from around Europe. I now have the opportunity to train there too after being selected to attend the centre in February 2025. This will help me achieve my goal of improving my performance which in turn will improve my personal best swim times to ensure I qualify for the National swimming competitions."

"Thank you to JHMT and the Inspire Awards for giving me the opportunity to pursue my dream of one day swimming for Team GB." he added.

Simon Taylor, JHMT Inspire lead, said: " Once again, the Inspire panel have been so impressed by the diverse range of applications from more talented young people across Leicester and Leicestershire working so hard to be the best they can be, We are so pleased to hear that the **Joe Humphries Memorial Trust Inspire grants scheme continue to help young people make a difference."

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

(**The JHMT Inspire awards marks its 10^TH YEAR since the launch of the grants scheme for young people, 13 – 21 years old, from across Leicester and Leicestershire held at a fundraising gala dinner/auction at Leicester Tigers in 2014 & sponsored by Gateley PLC )