The costs of supporting a child at national level in any sport are high; consider the amount of travel, equipment and finding time to research and secure the best trainers and coaches and it is obvious that each could be a major drain on a family’s time and could seriously affect the family’s income.
     TalentAid was established by the Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys (the Trust) in 2001 specifically to assist with the costs involved in supporting an especially gifted or talented ‘masonic’ child. It targets the costs associated with equipment, specialist tuition, training camps and travelling to competitions and events. The Trust realised that parents were making major sacrifices and were often financially stretched to support their talented children as a result. With targeted and timely support the Trust set out to help these talented youngsters achieve their full potential and relieve their parents and guardians of some of the financial strains that arise through needing to have world-class facilities and coaching.
     Harriet Steggles is one of the current TalentAid recipients.
     Harriet has been in dominant form this year after being crowned English giant slalom champion. She competed in the March 2009 National Championships which were held in Bormio, Italy and claimed the Gold Medal in giant slalom and Silver in the Super-G race. Unfortunately a broken binding exiting the start gate halted her bid to take a treble in her specialist and favourite event, the slalom. Putting that disappointment behind her, Harriet still managed to finish second overall.
     From the age of eleven Harriot had been part of the national circuit reaching Junior Level in Alpine Skiing and in January 2004 she travelled to Austria to compete in the British Alpine Racing and Skiing Clubs (BARSC) Championships where she won three age group Gold medals.
     In April 2004 she competed in the British Championships in Meribel, France, winning Gold and Bronze medals and was crowned overall under-fourteen British Slalom Champion and in the 2005 season she achieved second and fourth place in the Giant Slalom of the BARSC Championships.
     The Trust has been supporting Harriet since 2006. When support was first granted Harriet was already an accomplished junior she had just achieved first places in the English Alpine Championships in Slalom and Giant Slalom.
     She laughs about the speeds she reaches in competitions, ‘Sometimes I go so fast that its almost a shock but I am trying to win and so I don’t really think about it. It’s a risk you have to take.’ Clearly it takes considerable courage to challenge at this level but she is very calm: ‘I try’ is all she will say – with a slight chuckle.
     To assist Harriet, the Trust is providing a general TalentAid grant. This allows her to purchase equipment, travel to events and to continue to receive first class coaching. At the beginning of 2007 Harriet became a member of TeamGB and she took part in the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival.
     Harriet is well aware that the support of the Trust for her skiing ambitions has been crucial: ‘Without it I wouldn’t have skied for the last three years and I couldn’t have competed at the Youth Olympics. In fact, I probably would have had to give up my training. The Trust has definitely looked after me well.’
     She has a good idea of Freemasonry since both her grandfather and her father are in the Craft. Over the years she has several times attended Ladies’ Evenings and other functions at her father’s lodge, St Giles No. 4569, in Norwich. However, it came as a considerable surprise to her when the RMTGB TalentAid programme offered her the necessary funding for her to train and compete at a professional level.
     Despite the demands of the sport she has also managed to do well in her academic studies and has been offered a number of University places in Law and Banking. For now, though, she is taking time out since to ski professionally requires a total commitment to push her talents to their limit. Harriet now hopes to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics.
     The Trust will continue to provide what support it can to allow Harriet to achieve her ambition and to go for Gold.

Grants for excellence
In general two types of TalentAid grant are given. Recurring grants are for fees at specialist schools and colleges. These grants for fees are means-tested and usually go to the children of lowincome families. Non-recurring grants are given for sports coaching, music lessons, the purchase of equipment or instruments and the incidental expenses of having a talented child.
     During 2008, sixty-two young people received assistance through TalentAid. Five sportsmen and women, including an athlete, swimmers and a cyclist, are undertaking various schemes for entry to TeamGB with each of them hoping to achieve success at the 2012 Olympic Games. Freemasonry Today will keep readers informed of their progress and, we all hope, their success.
     If you know of an exceptionally talented youngster with a masonic connection who may need assistance see details of the TalentAid scheme on the Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys web site www.rmtgb.org or by calling our offices and asking for the Petitions Department.