St Mary’s Wins Sport Workforce Programme Award

The Sports team at St Mary’s University Twickenham have won the Workforce Programme of the Year award at the annual British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Conference.

The annual awards ceremony, which recognises excellence in higher education sport across a range of categories, was hosted at the University of West England. This is the second year in a row that St Mary’s has been shortlisted for the award, and the first time it has won.

The Workforce Programme of the Year Award recognises institutions that create new and enhanced student leadership and development programmes or student workforce programmes to support the upskilling and employability of students.

The award is decided from a shortlist of submissions, which demonstrate clear evidence of the impact on student development and deployment over the course of the academic year. St Mary’s in its submission detailed its work with SIMMSport, SIMMSactive, Student Sport Clubs and coaching bursary programmes.

Over the past year 299 students at St Mary’s have engaged in over 13,000 hours of sports coaching, sports rehabilitation and committee work, over three thousand hours of which was voluntary work.

Speaking of the award Director of Sport Andrew Reid-Smith said, "We are proud to support our students with opportunities that help them to flourish and fulfil their potential, allowing them to develop their skills and employability through improving the sporting experience for others. This BUCS award recognises St Mary's as a leading university for student leadership and development, and reflects the hard work and dedication of a team of staff and students that make a huge difference through sport.”