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National spotlight for Durham's community sport programme

28 June 2024
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Our sports and wellbeing work with our local communities has been highlighted as an example of best practice among UK universities.

The Russell Group, of world-class, research-intensive UK universities, has published A Bright Future: Places and People, a report that showcases work its 24 member universities are doing to improve wellbeing and prosperity in their local communities.

The report highlights Durham’s Community Sports Development programme, through which we provide local residents with access to a range of wellbeing opportunities.

About our community sport programme

This includes working with Durham and Chester-le-Street School Sports Partnership to host festivals and events; and County Durham Sport on the School Games Programme.

More than 200 of our students help deliver sports activities in our local communities, with 4,000 children participating regularly.

We host many junior sports clubs, as well as popular holiday camps.

Each week, more than 2,700 people visit our Sports and Wellbeing Park.

We work with Durham County Council on the Durham Institution of Sport, which nurtures and develops the best sporting talent in our area; and we’re part of the Talent Athlete Scholarship Scheme, a Sport England-funded partnership to help athletes balance their sports with other commitments.

Some of our success stories

Recently Lauren Irwin, a Durham graduate who was born in Peterlee, County Durham, attended St Bede's Catholic Comprehensive School, and became part of our Junior High Performance Academy, was named in the Team GB rowing squad for the Paris Olympics.

It’s also been a very successful year for our student sportspeople. We won a record-breaking 13 British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) national championships.

Find out more