Sheffield Girls’ swimming star Charlotte Bianchi has welcomed support from SportsAid’s Next Generation programme, which will help her deal with her sporting challenges ahead, as she stars in a new Aldi TV advert

SportsAid supports over 1,000 young athletes each year by providing a financial award to help with training and competition costs while also delivering personal development opportunities to many athletes through workshop sessions. Charlotte, from Year 11, was delighted to be asked to star in a TV advert for Aldi this summer, who are sponsors of this important programme.

Charlotte was among a group of 47 swimmers selected for the 2021-22 Swim England Junior Squad and has now qualified for the 2022 European Junior Championships.

"I was very grateful to SportsAid when I found out I would be involved because I was not expecting it," said Charlotte, speaking after filming the advert campaign for Aldi, who also work with Team GB and ParalympicsGB.

"I want to go as far as I can in the sport. It is important to learn new things and to learn how to present yourself in public, so it really is a great opportunity.”

"Social media is a big part of everything now, so knowing how you want to portray yourself can only be a good thing." 

Each year, athletes are nominated to SportsAid by the national governing bodies of more than 60 sports based on set criteria and each will be receiving financial awards to support with training. 

Charlotte was delighted to be chosen by SportsAid, and to be involved in the advertising campaign: "It is important that brands like Aldi continue what they're doing because if they don't, a lot of young athletes will stop what they're doing. Swimming at this level is expensive, and it is a really big commitment. I definitely think the grant will make a big difference to my progression over the next few years because I will be able to travel more and buy more things to help benefit me as a swimmer. Having all this attention on us as young athletes is a big change. It is not something we're used to, but it is fun to meet a lot of new people."

We wish Charlotte the best of luck with her swimming in the year ahead!