Horwich Rotary Club know how to treat talented kids. It might not sound much but the £100 sponsorship money they have given 17-year-old 400m runner Samantha Aspen is a fantastic gesture.

Samantha is one of a few athletes in Bolton and Horwich who have a real chance of making it right to the very top. Yet they are expected to do it with no financial support.

To give you an idea how good she is, Samanatha smashed the Bolton Schools record by five seconds then won the Greater Manchester Schools and is running 400m at 58 seconds. That's just six seconds slower than the best women in the country - and this is only her first season at the distance.

There are plenty more like her in town who are just as promising. The names might not mean much now but there's every chance you could be hearing about triple jumper Hazel Carwardine, sprinters Amy Spencer and Michael Smith, middle distance runner Tom Lancashire and high jumper Brian Hall in the future.

Hazel, 20, was already in the top 15 women in the country before she broke her personal best to win the England Inter-Counties Championships on Sunday. Amy is the second best woman 200m runner and in the top five at 100m at just 15 years old, Michael is running the 100m at 10.5 seconds - that's just five metres behind world champion Maurice Green, 15-year-old Tom is England's second best schoolboy at 800m and Brian is in the top three teenagers in the country at high jump. And these are not the only class acts in town by a long chalk.

If they were footballers their achievements would have seen them snapped up by top clubs and money would be thrown at them from every angle to help nurture their talent.

As it is they are athletes and nobody wants to give them an ounce of financial or advisory help. Everybody, that is, except Horwich Rotary Club whose £100 will not only buy Samantha some kit but will, more importantly, let her know that somebody actually believes in her and reckons she has what it takes.

As for the rest of the athletes, they will just have to continue to rely on their parents and volunteer coaches. But don't worry, all the people who ignore you now will want to know you when you've made it.

Well done Horwich Rotary Club and here's hoping there are more people out there willing to help out our struggling athletes. They'll certainly get a big thanks in this column if they do.