HEREFORD Sixth Form College has been given £69,000 to fund a programme encouraging students into physical activity.

The money awarded by Sport England is being used to support the college's allActive programme- aiming to increase the level of physical activity of all students through a variety of opportunities.

Delivered by Ben Parfitt, physical well-being manager, activities throughout the year will include: climbing, trampolining, dancing, fencing to simply attending a walking group – and will cater for everyone’s physical ability.

Peter Cooper, principal, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for our students and I am delighted for them and our dedicated allActive team. Too many of our young people give up sport in their early adulthood which affects both physical and mental well-being. We aim to turn the Xbox/Facebook generation into the get up and go generation, proving that a game of table tennis or an hours yoga can be more fulfilling than the attractions of the smartphone. The team have done a great job putting the package together and I am delighted that Sport England have supported our aims.”

Sport England is investing £5 million into projects in colleges that will support their inactive students into regular activity.

This is following research that found that roughly 138,000 college students are inactive or do less than 30 minutes of physical activity a week.

Around one in five college students were found to be inactive and many come from groups that have lower socio-economic status or from ethnic groups that are less likely to be active. Colleges in the programme will target these groups specifically to reduce the activity gap between them and their student peers.

Mike Diaper, executive director of Community Sport said: “College is a crucial time in a young person’s development. It is often the first time that activity is not a compulsory part of their study programme and therefore all too many young people become inactive.

"This funding will allow colleges to be innovative in addressing the needs and desires of their students to help embed activity in their lifestyle in college and for years to come.”