Two athletes from Thanet are among just 18 selected for national sponsorship across the whole of the South East.

Cricketer Megan Belt and swimmer Jamie O’Connor were chosen for the funding after they represented England and Great Britain in their chosen disciplines.

Miss Belt, 18, is in sixth form at the Charles Dickens School and Mr O’Connor, 16, is a pupil of Dane Court Grammar School.

Megan, who is from Broadstairs, first picked up a cricket ball at six years old before making it into a Kent youth team at the age of nine.

The off-spin bowler said: “I am really pleased to have been given this money. It was my England coach that put me forward for the funding.

“Mum and dad worked out that just travelling to cricket costs them more than £4,000 a year so hopefully this will take the pressure off them a bit.

“There were a lot of athletes that went for it so I’m happy I was chosen..." Megan Belt

“There were a lot of athletes that went for it so I’m happy I was chosen.

“It was weird meeting up with the other athletes but I made friends with a squash player from Essex.

“I’m aiming to make it into the England Academy in the near future. I'm in the development squad now and we haven’t played any games yet because it has just been winter training but I opened the bowling in the pre-season games at Loughborough.”

The funding comes as part of Sport England’s Backing The Best campaign which gives the athletes bursaries of up to £5,000 per year to help cover costs such as travel, accommodation, nutrition and medical bills.

The money is distributed by the National Lottery and the scheme is delivered by charity SportsAid.

Backing The Best is designed to help families who might feel competitive sport is out of their financial reach.

Jamie, who is from Margate, first started to swim at eight years old but has gone from strength to strength in the pool ever since.

He now trains five mornings, five evenings every week along with two gym sessions.

Mr O’Connor said: “I am extremely proud to be selected to receive this funding because I am one of the only ones in my sport to get it.

“It means a lot too because swimming is a really expensive sport, there is a lot of travelling, racing trunks cost more than £300 and we are struggling at the moment so the money will really contribute to everything and I can continue to do what I’m doing.

“When I went to the day and met all the other athletes I was with people who had achieved so much already so to be included in that group was amazing.

“I am in the European junior team, I’m best at middle distances such as the 200m or 400m front crawl.

“My first competition with the team is in July when we go to Hungary."