A COLLEGE has been given funding to help get students active.

The Peterlee-based East Durham College has received £128,921 from Sport England’s Towards an Active Nation. which puts tackling inactivity at the heart of what they do.

Sport England found nearly one in five students nationwide do do less than 30 minutes of physical activity a week, while nearly two thirds of that group do nothing at all. Students who go to college are more inactive than students who go to sixth form or university.

East Durham College’s project will engage inactive learners and support them to become active. It will include embedding regular physical activity in the curriculum, working with learners to undertake physical challenges to raise funds for social causes and provide a fun packed social calendar of activities.

Sport England director of community sport Mike Diaper 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.”