LANGLEY Burrell youngster Jamie Phillips is raiding his piggy bank so that he can compete in the BMX World Championships for the second year in the row.

The ten-year-old, a pupil at Kington St Michael School, has qualified to represent Great Britain in the U10 age group at the Vector Arena, in Auckland, on July 24-28.

Phillips made his mark on the international stage as he reached the U9 quarter-finals of last year’s championships in Birmingham.

The charity Jemima’s Gift – set up in memory of Jemima Prees from Colerne, who died in a skiing accident in February – has agreed to pay for Phillips’ flight to New Zealand but the youngster still has a lot of other costs to contend with.

“I feel ecstatic about being able to go the world championships again and I think that I can do even better than last year because I’ve had a whole year of training,” said Phillips, who is a member of Bristol BMX club.

“It was a great opportunity last year and I really want to go again. It’s going to cost a lot of money but I’m going to have some toy sales and do everything that I can.”

Dad Gary, a member of the Bristol club’s committee alongside Jamie’s mum Tracy, said: “He qualified to go to New Zealand by finishing in the top six in the national series – it was his goal at the start of the year and he’s achieved what he set out to do.

“We looked around to see if there were any grants that we could apply for but because the selection was such late notice, it’s just not conducive.

“BMX was one of the most-watched sports at the Olympics and hopefully a few people would be interested in sponsoring him, so that he gets the chance to go.”

Anyone interested in sponsoring Phillips can contact his dad Gary on 07771 666382 or e-mail garyphillips180166@ hotmail.co.uk. Also see JamiePhillipsBMX on Facebook.

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