A teenaged member of Grantham Athletic Club is desperately close to achieving his dream of a sports scholarship at the reputable Millfield School.
Sixteen-year-old Priory Ruskin Academy student Joshua Brown has been offered a place at the Somerset school but is still £4,000 short of the £35,000 needed to fund the scholarship.
Family, friends and an application for a bursary have raised the bulk of the sum needed, but Joshua now needs the help of generous businesses or sponsors.
If successful, he will be trained by international coaches six days a week with the aim of him competing for Great Britain at the 2016 Rio Olympics – which is his goal.
Joshua joined Grantham AC aged nine and by the time he reached 14 had progressed through county and regional level to national.
He has competed four times at the English Schools Athletics Championships in the last three years and last season ran a remarkable 53.4sec for the 400 metres hurdles – ranking him number one for his age in the UK. A true all-rounder, he was also ranked seventh in the UK in the English School Combined Championships (Octathlon).
This year has seen him set new club records and he is currently top of the UK rankings in the octathlon. He will contest the national championships in Birmingham at the end of the summer.
This week sees him representing England at the World School Games in the Czech Republic where he will contest the 300m hurdles and high jump.
Joshua said the chance of attending Millfield would give him the chance of fulfilling his Olympic dream: “Being coached by international coaches would not only increase my abilities but give me the support needed.
“I thought this was just a dream to attend a school of this stature but now it’s becoming more of a reality. The help of some funding could make it happen.”
If you think you can help Adrian make it to Millfield, contact his father Adrian on 07912 855147 for more information.