A Banbury para shooter recently joined 19 other athletes at the Houses of Parliament for a parliamentary reception.

Paul Barker was invited to the reception alongside others sponsored by Pitching In, a grassroots sports initiative, and SportsAid, marking another year of their financial support.

He said: "I got an email about two months ago saying I had been invited down after being sponsored.

“I came down last year so I had a bit more of an idea of what to expect, I wasn’t being thrown in the deep end.

"As soon as I got the invite, I was straight onto work saying I wouldn’t be in that day."

He added: "The SportsAid funding makes so much of a difference.

"Just before it came in, my foresights broke on my rifle.

"Somebody lent me theirs but I was scratching my head thinking how am I going to get a new set because it’s £200 to £300 straight away?

"I got the email to say Pitching In would sponsor me for another year and it went from how do I do this to being a big weight off my mind."

Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, said it is proud to be championing the next generation of British sporting heroes by providing young athletes with financial support and personal development opportunities in partnership with SportsAid.