A young wheelchair racer from Kingston is hoping to take her sport to the next level in crowdfunding a new racing chair.

Millie Swinchin Rew from Kingston is a wheelchair user and joined the Weir Archer Athletics Centre last year.

Having shown real promise as a racer since joining, Millie now hopes to raise funds to buy her own racing chair after getting as far as she could using the models donated to the centre.

"I've been racing now for a year with Weir Archer, which is based in KingsMeadow.

"We're lucky because they have a supply of chairs donated from former users so that anyone who wants to can come and have a go, but they're old and a bit battered," Millie said.

"I've raced this season and done fairly well, and I'm at a point where I need to be in a chair that suits me," she added.

Surrey Comet: Millie Swinchin RewMillie Swinchin Rew

The Kingstonian said that the Weir Archer Centre had been massively supportive after she decided to give the dynamic track sport a go — but now she was ready to take her competing to the next level and that requires a specialist chair.

"The chairs are all custom-built: Without the right chair you can't push right, you can't get in the right position, and if it's not made for you it's just really uncomfortable to use, especially over the course of a training session," Millie pointed out.

As such, a specially-built chair is an essential piece of kit for those like Millie who want to raise the level at which they compete.

She's hoping to follow in the footsteps of her colleagues at the Centre, who include Paralympic legend David Weir CBE and two of the best female racers in the UK in their own categories.

Millie told the Comet her own involvement in the sport happened almost by accident.

"I literally live round the corner from Kingsmeadow where the club train.

"After my little brother saw a poster of their's nearby, told me and said I should give that a go because he thought it looked cool, and it sort of all went from there," she said, joking that it was "all his fault" that she was now an avid racer.

With a hefty price tag including a chassis worth £3,500 alone, Millie hopes to raise £5,000 in order to fund her new racing chair.

In the meantime, as summer's competition season winds down, she'll continue to train at the Weir Archer Centre with her mates from the Academy.

"The group are amazing. They've been so supportive of me since I joined as a complete novice, it's been great," Millie said.

To donate, go to: https://www.gofundme.com/f/ny7bt-racing-wheelchair