Colleges To Benefit Lottery Sports Funding

20 October 2012, 06:00

Colleges in the region are being given new funding to help get more people involved in sport.

It is hoped a £1.3m investment from the National Lottery will encourage more young people to get active.

It follows a study which found that only half of college students do sport at least once a week.

14 colleges in the East of England were this week given the go-ahead to recruit 13 sport professionals after successfully bidding for support.

Great Yarmouth College is one of 14 to be awarded the funding.  

Principal Penny Wycherley's believes the extra encouragement will help students with their studies.

She said: “Physical activity is important for your health and it also helps people to let off some steam.

“But being active also helps your mental processes work better too, so it supports your learning.

“I hope with this initiative and the Olympics they [students] will see sport in a different light.”

East Norfolk Sixth Form College, City College Norwich,Suffolk New College, West Suffolk College and Easton College will also benefit from the new funding.

A recent study shows college students aged 16 and over engage in the least amount of sport amongst young people in education.

The research found that 65% of school pupils do sport once a week compared to 53% in higher education and 50% of college students.

Penny Wycherley - Principal at Great Yarmouth College speaking to Heart