BALFOUR BEATTY AND 95.8 CAPITAL FM's HELP A LONDON CHILD PLEDGE £40,000 TO FUND LONDON YOUTH SPORT

All 32 London Boroughs and the City of London submitted grant applications, which in total included over 20 different sports. £1000 was subsequently awarded to each of the applicants, with the eight most outstanding applications short listed for two £5000 awards. The short listed applicants were: Newham, City of London, Wandsworth and Tower Hamlets from inner London, and Ealing, Harrow, Richmond, and Sutton from outer London.

Last night, cheques for £5000 were presented to the two winning Boroughs, Newham and Ealing by Olympic Swimming Gold Medallist Duncan Goodhew, at a special awards ceremony held in the historic Long Room at Lord’s Cricket Ground. The awards evening was hosted jointly by Balfour Beatty London Youth Games chairman Anthony Kendall and Balfour Beatty Chief Executive Ian Tyler.

Ealing will spend their £5000 on launching a new initiative, Girls at the Games, aimed at encouraging local teenage girls to participate in team sports. Newham will use their money to help pay for the running of the Newham Mini Games 2009, specifically to fund the Newham Primary School Swimming Gala and a new event, the Newham Schools Hockey Festival, which together will benefit over 200 children.

Anthony Kendall, Chairman of the Balfour Beatty London Youth Games, said: “We are delighted that Balfour Beatty and Help a London Child have once again teamed up to offer this invaluable financial support to London’s youth sport. These grants will allow Boroughs to expand their participation in the Games in 2009, and so help create the athletic stars of tomorrow. It is fundamental to young athletes’ development that we offer them every assistance at this stage.”

Ian Tyler, Chief Executive of Balfour Beatty, said: “As the title sponsor of the Balfour Beatty London Youth Games, we are committed to improving social cohesion and development in the capital’s youth communities through local grass roots sport development – and our Sports Development Grant programme, now in its third year, is integral to achieving those goals.”

Capital FM’s Director of Global Charities, Louise Jagger, said: "Everyone at 95.8 Capital FM’s Help a London Child is delighted to be jointly funding the London Youth Games Sports Development Grants for the third consecutive year, and we were very impressed by the quality of the proposed projects from all the Boroughs. Through this programme we're committed to ensuring more children and young people in London, of all abilities, have the opportunity to participate in sport, which we're only able to achieve thanks to the continuing generosity of Capital listeners and our supporters.”

For more information or images, please contact Tim Morgan at the Balfour Beatty London Youth Games press office on 020 7299 4160 or email tim.morgan@limelightsports.com

The annual Balfour Beatty London Youth Games are open to anyone aged between seven and 17. Each of the 32 London Boroughs and the City of London enters teams in as many of the 34 sports as possible. More details about the Games can be found at www.londonyouthgames.org.

(Limelight Sports 02/12/08)