TWO Swindon figure skating champions are calling for the town’s support to help them raise £20,000 in order to compete in this year’s world championships.

Zoe Jones and Christopher Boyadji, who are current British senior pairs champions, need to raise the funds to take part in the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki at the end of March.

The duo, who train at the Link Centre, have launched the crowdfunding appeal to help them meet the costs of the world championships, but the money will also help them prepare for the next Olympic season which kicks off later this year.

Last month Zoe and Christopher, who teamed up in June last year, finished 14th at January’s European Championships, which was the first time they had competed at an international event together.

Christopher, 26, said: “Zoe and I only teamed up in June last year. We have already achieved most of our goals for this season and have improved so much.

“What makes our story even more amazing is that Zoe was the British Champion in 2000 and 2001 in the British senior ladies’ event. After that, she decided to retire and moved to Canada to coach and build a family.” Zoe, 37, is now a mother of three and has returned to skating after 13 years in retirement.

Since launching the Go Fund Me page earlier this week, the figure skaters have managed to raise nearly £3,000 towards their £20,000 target.

“Figure skating is a very expensive sport and the financial support we get from the British Federation is incredibly small compared to the day-to-day costs that we are encountering,” French-born Christopher added. “Our daily life consists of working or coaching seven days a week in order to pay all the fees.

“In addition, Zoe is also a single mum so she takes her children to school, rushes off to training, does off-ice training and then rushes back to school to pick up the children. If you are parents, you will easily understand her day, and you will understand how hard it is to be a coach, a skater and mother at the same time.

“At the moment we only have our coach twice a week because we can’t afford any more coaching. With your help, we would be able to have more coaching, which means, improving more and helping us to achieve our dreams,” said Christopher.

Zoe added: “It is hard work juggling the children and skating but we love it and that is why we need to raise the money. A lot of our competitors only have themselves to look after and many don’t have to work on top of training so the finances of paying our coach does mount up. I don’t think people realise how much it costs.”

To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/JonesBoyadji