A STUDENT’S goal to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics has received support from his college’s charity.

Ben Callander, who is 16 and from Penketh, has been awarded £1,000 from the Priestley Education & Training Trust to help pay for the costs of travelling to Switzerland for two training camps this year.

“There are some fast tracks in Switzerland so I am looking to improve my time so that I can get funding from British Athletics,” said Ben, who studies public services and English GCSE at Priestley.

“I need to knock about a second off my time and this money is going to help me continue the training I need.”

Ben began wheelchair racing in 2013 after watching the sport at the 2012 Paralympic Games.

Inspired by British wheelchair racer David Weir, he began training and then competing in the T33 classification – one of four categories for wheelchair athletes with cerebral palsy, a neurological condition that affects independent movement.

Principal Matthew Grant said the Priestley Education & Training Trust was set up to help students like Ben.