Aspiring Paralympian, Cameron Thores, admits he could not be more grateful for the perfectly-timed nutritional masterclass he received courtesy of Aldi and SportsAid.

The Edinburgh para sprinter, 19, is a member of Aldi’s Rising Stars programme, an initiative that supports 20 young athletes by providing a financial award to help with training and competition costs, while also delivering personal development opportunities to many athletes through workshop sessions.

The programme enabled Thores to attend a unique Taste Kitchen workshop at Aldi’s Atherstone HQ, providing him with valuable insight into fuelling an athlete’s body for training and competing, as well as top tips for recipes, batch cooking, and eating on the go.

The Scottish star harbours bold Paralympic ambitions and believes the memorable trip to the session – alongside six other Aldi-supported athletes – can form a key step on the road to success.

He said: “I think it will have a big impact. I've never been too confident or too knowledgeable when it comes to nutrition in sport. I'm just glad that I've had the opportunity to really hear from experts in the field and get a better understanding of what I need to do. Understand what's good for me, what isn't, and what will help me perform at the best level. It’ll hopefully make a big impact.”

The Rising Stars athletes will receive financial support through Aldi as well as a monthly food voucher, to fuel them through training, competitions and to future Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Aldi have a top 10 shopping list of affordable, healthy items recommended by nutritionists, Nigel Mitchell and Jenny Tschiesche – both of whom attended the event to help Thores develop a better understanding of nutritious foods key for training, skills for cooking and how to maximise his monthly Aldi vouchers.

The part-time Corstorphine AC athlete – who studies at the University of Exeter – learned that eating healthy doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming, with Tschiesche and Mitchell taking him and his fellow athletes through multiple recipes throughout the day.

Mitchell, a Team GB nutritionist with three decades’ worth of experience working with athletes to create bespoke nutritional plans which aid their level of performance, added: “I believe in feeding people real food. Supermarkets like Aldi really provide an affordable opportunity for the consumer to look at getting excellent quality food at a much more affordable price. I think that is so important in today's age, where people are much more price aware, but are also really wanting the quality of foods that they really need to get the range and in depth of nutrients.”

Aldi is the Official Supermarket Partner of Team GB and ParalympicsGB and have partnered with Team GB since 2015, ParalympicsGB since 2022 and will be supporting them through to Paris 2024