Teenage judo starlet Ashley Mathias, from Ashton in Bristol, is celebrating after receiving a £500 donation from the MARS Refuel Drink Fund.

Ashley, 17, started judo aged just seven years old and it soon became clear that Ashley had a natural talent for the sport. Ten years on Ashley is training up to five times a week and is hoping to make the Great Britain squad.

The Bristol hotshot said: “My ambition is to compete in the Olympics and I am trying my best to achieve this. I am training and competing as much as I can all over the country in order to gain more experience and improve my skills. To achieve my goals I would like to increase my training at the regional England ExCell training centre and attend more national competitions but because of petrol costs this has been proving difficult.

"With the donation from the MARS Refuel Drink Fund I will be able to fund my travel and get that all-important competition experience. My next big challenge is the British Championships which take place in Sheffield in October. MARS Refuel has given be a brilliant boost ahead of this competition as the funding will help me compete and play longer. A big thank you goes out to MARS Refuel.”

                                      

Research undertaken by MARS Refuel earlier this year revealed that almost a quarter of people feel that they don’t have enough money to start participating in sport, or to keep that involvement going.

The MARS Refuel Drink Fund was created to help people overcome the financial barriers and to play sport for longer by offering £500 awards to teams and individuals.

The MARS Refuel Drink Fund runs until September 30 2011 and has £5,000 to donate each month.

Applications can be made online at www.marsrefuel.com offering support with anything from equipment and travel costs, to improving training grounds and club houses.

The fund is open to residents of, and clubs and organisations based in the UK and Republic of Ireland only. Applicants must be 12 years or over and only one application will be accepted per person, club or organisation.

Mars Refuel is a great source of protein, carbohydrate, calcium and vitamin B. It’s the milk goodness in Mars Refuel that provides the optimum 4:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein that helps people to go 50% longer