College is jumping for joy at windfall (From Swindon Advertiser)

College is jumping for joy at windfall

8:20am Monday 11th March 2013 in News

SWINDON College has been awarded £874,000 of government funding to build a new sports and fitness centre on its North Star campus.

The news comes just after the recent announcement that the college is funding from its own reserves, a new £2m construction centre on the same campus.

The new sport and fitness centre will be an extension to the main building, which was built in 2006, and will create over 300sq m for sports teaching.

It will include a fully-equipped multi-gym and fitness suite, and will meet the needs of students on the college’s fast-growing number of sports courses which range from Level 1 through to a BSc Hons Degree in Sports Therapy, which is taught at the college in partnership with the University of Bath.

College Principal Andrew Miller said: “We are delighted that our bid for a grant from the Skills Funding Agency has been successful.

“It will mean we can further improve the student experience across our sports provision and provide state-of-the-art fitness facilities for all our students and staff. “The two new buildings will further enhance the resources and curriculum offer at Swindon College.”

The construction of the fitness centre will take place at the same time as the construction centre and will be built by the end of 2013.

Sam Bramfitt, sports curriculum area manager at the college, said: “The sports teaching team is really excited that they will be able to work with students in purpose-built facilities which will provide a high quality and realistic working environment.”

Currently, students use facilities at the nearby Oasis Leisure Centre and other sporting venues around the town.

Amanda Burnside, executive director at the college, said: “Obviously this will really improve the students’ experience and will also mean that staff, and other students will have access to the gym.

“The current building was built in 2006 and we have got a masterplan which gradually enhances the campus and is split into two phases – one is the construction centre and the other is the sports centre. It is an exciting time for us.

“Gradually over the next 10 years we plan to refurbish the old building and build more state-of-the-art faciltiies.”

Swindon Harrier Morgan Gascoigne, 18, a champion long and triple jumper, studies photography at the college and is delighted with the news of the fitness centre.

“I’m really excited about it. Although I am not really associated with the sporting section here at the college, they have supported me through what I do, and the new centre will be a great opportunity for all the different sports that the students do,” she said.