HAMPSHIRE athlete Mike East surprised everyone - including himself - by winning the gold medal for the 1500m at last summer's Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Now he's got involved with a scheme that could see other athletes following in his footsteps.

East was a guest of honour at the recent launch in Basingstoke of the Free Access for National Sportspeople (FANS) scheme - a new initiative in which local authoritity leisure centres, including those in Test Valley, offer athletes free use of their facilities at off peak periods.

The scheme is open to all athletes who reside in the county who figure in the top ten rankings in the country or are supported by the Hants Council Council's bursary scheme. The Portsmouth-based East's gold medal triumph in Manchester was an extraordinary achievement but it's the county council's sports development department is hoping that it will not be the last.

However, the 24-year-old was something of an 'overnight' success after a nearly a decade training around the streets and parks of Hampshire.

"I guess I shocked everyone, including myself," admits East. "I thought I may snatch the bronze as I had been threatening to do something quite big for some time, but people were saying that I had appeared from nowhere. " In fact, I've been running since I was 13 and have been appearing at international level since I was 15, so it took me ten years to achieve that overnight success."

He started began running as a schoolboy in Portsmouth, with his first outings coming in cross-country races on Portsdown Hill in the city, and quickly progressed to regional and then national level under the expert eye of local coach Pat Butcher.

"I didn't want to run, I was more interested in playing football with my mates," he says. "I remember doing a cross-country on Portsdown Hill and doing okay, but absolutely hating it. That was on the Friday and on the Saturday I was asked to run in a county race. I didn't want to do it, but my teacher persuaded me and I've never really looked back from that moment."

Like many athletes, East's progression to the top level was hampered by a lack of adequate funding as a youngster, a problem the Hants County Council has addressed with the new FANS Scheme.

"It's targeted at elite athletes in the Hampshire area and will provide free training facilities and indirect financial support," explains Cllr John Waddington, the council's executive member for recreation and heritage.

"Nationally-selected athletes, including those with disabilities, from any sport and any age group are offered free access to designated sports facilities in their area at off-peak times."

As far as East is concerned, the introduction of the FANS Scheme can only spell future success for many of the county's elite young athletes.

"It's an ideal scheme, a great idea coming into Hampshire," he says. "I was always facing problems using fitness centres and other training venues when I was a youngster.

"If there's a proper structure in place, where you don't have to worry about the financial cost of training several times a week, then that can only be a good thing.

"The financial burden can be great for young athletes. Parents can only afford to buy so much equipment and training time - a few pounds a day quickly adds up over weeks and months."

The scheme can help remove some of those outside pressures. It is important to nurture the young athletes coming through and if they know that there is something behind them then hopefully they will be more inclined to stick with athletics and bring more success to the region."

For further information on the FANS Scheme please contact Paul Bickerton at Hampshire County Council on: (01962) 846283 or by email at: paul.bickerton@hants.gov.uk