When SportsAid funded a teenage Tim Brabants, it set him on course for Olympic glory 14 years later. Now Tim Lawler, the charity's chief executive, has enlisted him as an ambassador to help young athletes reach their full potential

Tim Lawler I started at Saracens RFC as community marketing manager and within the year I was appointed managing director. The one thing you can't guarantee is that the team will win every week. We set about giving fans another reason to engage with the club. There was a vibe and an interaction with customers in between games that had an appeal to our commercial partners as well.

Tim Brabants I got involved with SportsAid when I was a junior athlete in 1994. I received a grant, which was about £250. It paid for a new set of kayak paddles that I went on to win the Junior World Championships with. It was the first time I'd been recognised by somebody for how I was getting on in my sport.

TL We're an organisation that works in sport, and it happens to be a sports organisation with a charitable status, rather than a charity that happens to have a focus on sport. It's quite an old organisation and in the mindset of being a grateful charity. We're a sports organisation first and foremost.

TB I've maintained the SportsAid relationship, even though I've had no direct funding since 1999. I went on to join the Barclaycard Team 2000 scheme, which was organised by the SportsAid Foundation. They've helped me, recognised my future and potential, and it's good that I can now give back in terms of my time to support them.

TL In the four or five years I've worked in the third sector I've found that it's a bit limited by risk-aversion. There's no ambition sometimes. A partnership is only a partnership if each partner gets a benefit. It's not trying to shame someone into doing something.

TB At the top end of our sport, funding is not such a problem as the lottery funding has come in. But at grassroots level funding is an issue. It's a great opportunity for local businesses to get involved with athletes. The difficult thing is how to make sure the funding they're providing is distributed well and to the right people. From a business's point of view, it's more effective to distribute funding through an organisation such as SportsAid. It's directed to where it's needed.

TL The reason sport has a good connection to business is that it's got a fantastic currency. Generating commercial revenue is our fastest-growing area. It's not a badging exercise, or salving their conscience. It's staff feeling good; retention; tangibly doing something for British sport, in a once in a lifetime opportunity [the London Olympics].

TB I'm an amateur athlete so I know I'm never going to make a living from my sport. I have to have a career that I'm going to find fulfilling when I retire [Brabants is an A&E doctor]. I've been highly focused on the sports side to try to get the medals in Beijing. Now that will change back to the medical career.

TL There was a wonderful sense of pride in Beijing. There was also a sense of surprise. Those hairs on the back of your neck—that's something that needs bottling and relaying and passing forward. That'll be one of the challenges for Lord Coe and the team: distilling that moment and allowing everyone to top up on it coming up to the 2012 Games.

TB Beijing was my proudest moment. Prior to that it was winning the World Championships last year. Eighteen out of the 19 gold medallists in Beijing had received SportsAid funding at some point in their career, which is an incredible proportion.

TL I've been getting under Tim's skin a bit and learning about what would drive him through a night shift, training just before he goes on shift, immediately after, and then he'll go to bed. It's phenomenal. To still eat well; to bring yourself to that level of excellence.

TB For now it's back to work full-time, keep training for as much as possible, and then see how I feel. If my body's holding up and I'm injury-free and feeling like I can carry on to London 2012, the focus will switch back to training. I'd love to compete in London.

TL Tim's a great role model. To have that dream written so large across your heart—you'd hope that people you work with have that similar drive. There's a tremendous sense of humility with this. They're not earning £5m a year, playing in the Premier League. They may not be iconic figures yet, but they are in my eyes.

TB Tim's highly motivated with a passion for what he's doing at SportsAid. As athletes, we're also highly motivated and passionate, so to see that, somebody working in an environment helping up-and-coming sportspeople, it's a positive thing.