To mark '500 days' until the beginning of the 'London 2012 Olympics', the GLL Sport Foundation announced that for 2011 it will support 850 young sportsmen and women from across London and the South of England.

The 2011 Awards combine training grants and financial assistance to athletes worth in excess of £400,000.

This makes the GLL Sport Foundation one of the largest independent athlete talent support structures in the UK.

The successful applicants were announced on 15th March 2011 at a VIP event held at the landmark building One Canada Square, Canary Wharf in London. The venue gave fantastic panoramic views of the emerging Olympic Park, where many of the Foundation athletes aspire to compete.

Sally Gunnell OBE, Patron and Peter Bundey, Chair of the GLL Sport Foundation respectively made the announcement, accompanied by Foundation Ambassador Zac Purchase MBE, Olympic and World rowing champion.

The athletes sponsored by the Foundation represent over 60 sports across a broad range of Olympic, Paralympic, Deaflympic and Special Olympic sporting disciplines ranging from athletics and swimming through to gymnastics, judo, fencing, and wheelchair basketball.

Each will benefit from funding of up to £1,250 to be spent on training, travel and equipment during the next 12 months.

Over 80 per cent of awards will be given to young sporting talent under the age of 20, of which 53 per cent are under 16 years old. This is consistent with the Foundation's aim to get direct support into emerging sporting talent and to assist ease the financial burden that many aspiring young athletes face.

Former Olympic, World, European and Commonweath Champion Sally Gunnell is Patron of the GLL Sport Foundation and has remained committed to supporting young athletes since struggling herself to find funding support during her early years of competition. "I know from personal experience just how hard it is to find funding support when competition, equipment and training costs start to rise.

"The aim of the Foundation is to provide practical support for talented young athletes and it has become clear that the support given to these young athletes is having a tremendous impact. The success of the scheme has already surpassed our expectations and we have been able to promote these young people as role models within their communities. This is very important to us and we will continue to positively support this message." Peter Bundey, GLL Sport Foundation Chair was delighted with the event success: "I would like to thank our numerous Local Authority and public sector partners, who provide training venues for the athletes and all our sponsors who raise vital funding for the scheme. I would also like to stress the importance of working with SportsAid, who bring national sporting links, co-ordination with other talent funding programmes and hours of validation of applications and performance assessment."

The GLL Sport Foundation was founded in 2008 with Sally Gunnell OBE as Patron. It plans to give in excess of £1.5m to young athletes in selected areas of London and the South of England in the run up to 2012 and beyond.