Don Foster welcomes Active Universities investment into the University of Bath

Don Foster MP is delighted to learn that the University of Bath has been successful in its bid for investment from Active Universities, a £10m National Lottery funding round run by Sport England, to get more university students playing sport.

Students in Bath are being urged to give sport another go after the University of Bath was awarded more than £113,382 in National Lottery funding from Sport England.

The project will also help students to get involved in organising and running sports at facilities off campus in areas where they live, as well as volunteering to run and officiate sessions in return for professional development. All activities will link into existing student and community clubs, encouraging continued participation.

Don Foster, MP for Bath, said:

“As a member of the Olympic Board, I am absolutely delighted that as a result of this Sport England funding, the University of Bath will now be able to offer all students greater scope to get involved in University Sport”

“With the Olympics just around the corner, it is essential that we foster a legacy of increased sporting participation, and exciting schemes such as ‘The 3: Thirty club’ will greatly contribute to ensuring that sport becomes a hobby for life for many Bath students”

“Through my role as Chair of Team West of England, I am already aware of the fantastic work that is being done by individuals, teams and clubs to ensure that the Olympic legacy is felt throughout the city. Our Universities are playing a big role in ensuring sport is available to all and this funding will allow more great projects to be carried out”

“Only today, I was privileged to see the joint efforts of the School Sports Partnership and Bath University at the B&NES Council ‘Playground to Podium’ event and I am pleased to see that a range of sports participation projects are getting the support they deserve.”

Greg Sharp, University of Bath Sports Development Manager, said:

“The support from Sport England will allow the University of Bath to make significant enhancements to the student experience, providing a variety of activities in more locations. From the outset of this application, students have been at the core of its creation and will continue to be the core of its planned delivery. They will gauge student demand for activities and use the resources to meet that demand.”

The Active Universities projects will give tens of thousands of students across the country the chance to try out a new sport, or get back into one they’ve tried before.

Boosting student participation will have a lasting impact on grassroots sport because research shows that students who do play sport at university are far more likely to continue participating throughout their lives. It will also help tackle the issue of drop-off in sports participation that sees many young people giving up sport in their late teens and early twenties.

Sport England’s Chief Executive, Jennie Price, said:

“Young adults who are still playing sport when they leave university are likely to stick with it for life, so this is a good investment in the future. These projects have been chosen because they really listened to what students wanted, so we are confident they will succeed in increasing participation.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1. Sport England is focused on the delivery of a mass participation legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We invest National Lottery and Exchequer funding in organisations and projects that will grow and sustain participation in grassroots sport and create opportunities for people to excel at their chosen sport.

1. Don today attended B&NES Playground to Podium event at Bath University, (Friday 1st April)

The event was organised by the School Sport Partnership and focused on children with physical, sensory or learning disabilities in mainstream or special education.

The aim of the day was to inspire pupils to take up sport and physical activity with the possibility of becoming our next elite disabled athletes or paralympians.