Newbury College has won a bid to receive a sports grant, thanks to new National Lottery funding from Sports England to develop sports in West Berkshire. The funding will be used to appoint a new sports specialist who will work within both the College and the local community to promote sports. This will be overseen by the National Governing Body of Sport, and is a perfect opportunity for Newbury College to utilize their recently opened state of the art Sports Hall.
The £1.7 million investment in sports came about after the success of the Games Makers at the Olympics in encouraging sports. The opportunity is being given to 500 colleges around the UK to recruit a full time sports professional, a 'Sports Maker', to help get students
interested in sport. Only 150 colleges across the UK have the chance of being successful of which Newbury College is one of them.
The announcement was welcomed by Maria Miller, Secretary of State of Culture, Media and Sport, who said: "Following the success and enthusiasm generated by the summer, I am determined to keep up the momentum of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and get more people playing sport. Raising participation levels among young people is absolutely crucial. This £20 million investment from the National Lottery will help do exactly that, getting more students in colleges up and down the country involved in sport. It will also create 150 new jobs, and these 'College Sport Makers' will make a real difference in helping young people develop a sporting habit for life".
Newbury College will be seeing a number of sporting events taking place, promoting different sports and raising money for charity. It is also hoped that local sporting teams will be getting involved. Ian Raynes, Manager for Sports and Services at Newbury College said, "We are very excited to be one of the first colleges selected to start the Sports Makers scheme. It will be a great way to show both our learners and the local community the importance of sports and we look forward to seeing the benefits."