SEVEN-times British ice-skating pair champions Stacey Kemp and David King are thanking their Cornish auntie for funding their dream to compete at the next Winter Olympics.

The Great Britain Olympic, World and European championship competitors are training to compete at another Olympics, the Sochi Games in Russia in 2014.

The pair's Olympic dream has received a substantial boost by receiving a 'generous amount of money' from their Looe-based auntie, Tina King.

Tina and her late husband, Dave King, who passed away suddenly, are auntie and uncle to both Kemp and King.

Said Kemp: 'We have been given a generous amount of money to help fund our skating career by auntie Tina, who recently relocated to live in Looe.

'She missed her husband a lot and decided at the beginning of Easter to open a shop in the centre of Looe to give herself a pastime and something to do and enjoy.

'The shop is called 'The Bead Shop Looe' and we would like to thank Tina and the shop for their generous help, so that we can continue our skating careers.'

For more on this story, and the week's other sports news, don't forget to order a regular copy of The Cornish Times, on sale every Friday