A Bradford charity for athletes with disabilities is calling for financial support from Sport England or the National Lottery to help with the cost of sending athletes to a major competition.
More than 30 athletes and coaches are faced with each having to find £375 to pay for competing in the National Special Olympics competition in Bath in August.
The Bradford Disability Sport and Leisure charity is in the process of raising the £20,000 needed to take all athletes and coaches to the games. But the organisation thinks more help should be forthcoming from one of the big two funding bodies.
One of the fundraisers and organisers is Barry Thorne, former Keighley councillor and Lord Mayor of Bradford.
He said: “Special Olympics are relatively unsupported in the UK, but with the fantastic success our Olympic and Paralympics athletes had in London last year surely the time is right for athletes with learning disabilities to have the same showcase.
" We believe that there is an injustice and athletes with learning disabilities should be entitled to the same funding as their Paralympics counterparts.”
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