A NEW grant scheme has been launched to support young talented athletes in the Worcestershire area.

The Joanna Brown Trust Talented Athlete Support Grant will provide talented athletes under the age of 18 with funding to pay for training, travel, equipment or competition costs.

Athletes can apply for anything up to £500 and the successful applicants will be announced in November.

The grant scheme is being funded by the Joanna Brown Trust, a sports charity set up in memory of Miss Brown, who died in August 2008 after falling to her death in Siberia.

Her brother Richard Brown, the trust’s founder, said: “Following the great success of last year’s grant scheme in Malvern we have decided to do one for the whole of Worcestershire.

“The Malvern grant scheme will run again this year, in partnership with Malvern Hills District Council, and only be available to under 18-year-olds living in Malvern.

"The new Worcestershire grant scheme will be available to young athletes living within the county, excluding Malvern.”

The University of Worcester is supporting the Worcestershire initiative by offering all successful applicants a free, one-off sports science workshop which will include support and advice on nutrition, fitness, psychology and performance analysis.

The charity has raised more than £90,000 since it began and has already funded other successful sporting projects, including a cricket nets training facility at Barnards Green Cricket Club in Malvern.

Applications for both schemes are available from thejoannabrowntrust.org and must be completed by Friday, October 7.