Young sporting hopefuls from East Lancashire have been awarded a cash boost to help them towards their sporting goals.

Hannah Procter, Thea Cameron and Zak Green were three of the young athletes from across the county to be awarded £500 to support them in their chosen sports at the presentation ceremony at The University of Central Lancashire.

Hannah Procter, 13, from Clitheroe is a member of the English Talent Programme. She has quickly picked up the shooting and fencing elements of the sport, finishing sixth in the National Triathlon in May with the fastest swim and the fourth fastest combined event.

She recently took part in the National Tetrathlon (shoot, swim, fence, and combined run/shoot) and finished in second place in the U15s girls age group.

She is now looking forward to moving up the age groups and competing at longer distances with more experienced athletes.

She said: “Training in five different sports is very time consuming and also very costly as we have to pay for five sets of training and five sets of equipment.

“This award will help towards the cost of all the riding equipment I need and riding lessons so that I will soon be able to compete in a full modern pentathlon.”

Thea Cameron, 14, from Billington, is a competition climber with Performance Rock.

She recently secured a place on the national climbing academy and will use the support available to improve her climbing and chances of being selected for the British Climbing Team She said: “I am looking forward to attending regional and national academies and working with the staff at UCLan to see what ideas they have and support they can offer my training programme.”

Zak Green, 17, from Barnoldswick was also awarded a Rising Star award. Zak is a member of Barnoldswick Cricket Club and he aims to be selected to to represent England in the Tri Series Tournament next year in Australia and continue to represent Lancashire in the Disability County Championships.

“I am extremely grateful for the Bursary which will help immensely with my travel and equipment costs and help me continue to progress in this sport,” said the talented cricketer.

The Lancashire Rising Star Fund, in association with Lancashire Sport Partnership, Lancashire County Council and the University of Central Lancashire awards grants of £500 to individuals to cover costs such as travel, training, accommodation, competition fees, and equipment. In addition, each recipient will receive a package of support from UCLAN that will include, strengthening and conditioning services, nutritional advice and support and access to UCLAN Sports and training facilities.

Adrian Leather, Chief Executive at Lancashire Sport Partnership said: “On behalf of the Lancashire Rising Star Fund I want to congratulate these young athletes on their achievements so far.

“We know that young athletes’ families spend a lot of time and money to support their dreams and we hope that we can offer some support along the way.

“We look forward to watching these young athletes achieving their dream of representing their county and country in some of the nation’s biggest sporting competitions.”