Olympic Hero Jess Ennis-Hill visited Sheffield Hallam this week to meet students involved in a landmark initiative to get more young people playing sport.
The Olympic Gold medalist heptathlete took part in an athletics class and shared her inspirational story with the group, who all take part in social sports sessions which have helped the University become one of the most active in the country.
The sessions are part of Sport England’s £8million National Lottery funded Active Universities programme, which provides a range of sporting opportunities for students outside of formal competitive university teams.
Sheffield Hallam was one of 41 universities to be awarded National Lottery funding in 2011 to widen sports participation through Sport England’s Active Universities programme. The project has been a huge success, with almost 2,000 students taking part in the first year alone. A wide range of sports are on offer including wheelchair basketball, martial arts, swimming and netball.
The Active University programme is part of Sport England’s work to tackle the drop off in sport participation which tends to occur in late teens and early 20s.
More than £6billion of National Lottery funding has been invested in sport in the UK since it began in 1994, with Sheffield benefiting from more than £87million.
Jess Ennis-Hill is one of 1,300 elite athletes supported by National Lottery funding through UK Sport. The funding allows athletes to train full time and have access to some of the best coaching, facilities and support staff in the world.
For more information visit the Media Centre: http://www.shu.ac.uk/mediacentre