Help us fund coach support to Euro Champs & World Cups 2024

After an incredible start to 2024 we now need the support of our

wider climbing & sport community to pay for coach expenses at the

remaining international competitions this year....

Great Britain has an amazing national climbing team. Our inspirational athletes are not only extremely talented but they are dedicated to their sport. They make a huge commitment to their training, often juggling this alongside school or work and are role models to future generations of young climbers in our rapidly growing sport. Our senior team is still young, but so highly experienced and increasingly successful that we can often forget that a number of those seasoned competitors are still juniors ... and then there is our junior national team, pushing hard to be up there with the best in the World. Some of them are accomplished athletes, others are in their first season of international competition. They all deserve their chance to shine on the international stage.

On 19th July GB Climbing and the British Mountaineering Council (GB's Sport Climbing national governing body), announced that they were not in a position to field coaches to most of the remaining competitions in the international calendar. Athletes are now working together to raise funds to cover coach travel and accommodation expenses so that our team can be supported by accredited and internationally experienced personal coaches.

We are working hard to bring together personal coaches, who have years of experience supporting elite athletes at the highest level, including managing and coaching the GB Lead and Boulder teams across multiple World Championships, an ex-Austrian national team trainer and of course coaches with experience of countless senior World and European Youth Cups.

The coaching role will include attending the competition briefings, ensuring athletes are aware of any changes to the competition info pack or schedule, supporting athletes in warm up if requested, front of house support and submitting appeals. We will work together to support the team as a whole and aim to support other personal coaches who are working to develop their arena coaching experience and skills in an international environment.

Athlete attendance at international competitions is already self-funded, individual athletes pay for their own travel, accommodation and competition entry. This fundraiser means that athletes will not have to add coach expenses to their personal costs and we can ensure that all athletes will receive the same level of support, regardless of their ability to meet the additional cost.

Importantly the coaches will be providing their time for free; any funds raised will only pay for competition expenses of travel and accommodation. We will be working with the British Mountaineering Council (Sport Climbing national governing body) to coordinate accreditation and attendance of coaching support.

This fundraiser is being managed by Precision Climbing coaches (Ellie and Mark) in collaboration with representative athletes and parents across the wider GB team.

£4k 

Our first target is £4,000 to support coach expenses at attend our top priority competitions:

1. European Championships, Villars (Switzerland)

2. European Youth Championships, Troyes (France)

£10k 

If we are successful in reaching our initial target, we will then look to support other competitions, giving priority to those with the highest GB athlete participation numbers:

1. Prague Boulder World Cup

2. Koper Lead World Cup

3. Bologna Lead & Speed European Cup

4. Genova Boulder European Cup

£12.5k 

If we can raise £12,500 we will be able to support coach expenses for all the remaining international competitions in 2024:

1. Seoul Boulder, Lead & Speed World Cup

2. Ostermundingen Lead European Youth Cup

Coaches used for each event will be dependent on athlete requirements, coach availability and accreditation.

Any funds raised over the requirement for 2024 will be used to support coach expenses in 2025. If, at the end of 2025, we still have funds unspent and there is no further need to provide coach support, then we will donate the remaining funds to Climbers Against Cancer (registered charity).

Please help our incredible climbers to complete their 2024 international season with the support they deserve. Anything you can give will make a difference.

Thank you!