Promoted
Providing a sporting chance for all
January 2, 2023
Fresh from being named the country’s best higher education institution, Northumbria University is launching a new sport scholarship to help the next generation shine. Part of its wider Higher Education Without Barriers campaign, which aims to help students from all backgrounds succeed, the scholarship’s first year will support budding female coaches and officials.
Northumbria University is committed to widening participation.
Crowned University of the Year 2022 at the prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) Awards, Northumbria is a research-intensive modern university, with student diversity and social mobility at its heart.
In 2022, Northumbria launched its Higher Education Without Barriers campaign, to enable talented students from all backgrounds to access higher education.
Powered by businesses, charitable trusts and Northumbria alumni, it has raised more than £2 million and benefited more than 800 students in outreach, scholarships, hardship, well-being and enterprise.
The opportunity to go to university can be life-changing but, for many, it is out of reach.
Through our campaign, we are building a community of donors, who have, so far, provided £750,000 in scholarships.
Scholarships enable businesses to promote their values and brand among the brightest talents of tomorrow.
Most importantly, however, they change lives.
We are keen to welcome new businesses in joining our network of supporters, which includes Santander, CBRE and Version 1, among others.
A scholarship is a significant investment in a person’s future, with benefits lasting a lifetime.
At Northumbria, we encourage students to pursue their academic and personal passions, and have launched a new scholarship in sport.
We are proud of our sporting alumni, which includes Pete Bakare, Paul Blake, Martin Corry, Steve Cram, Jon Dutton, Ellen Falkner, Stephen Miller and Victoria Pendleton.
In its first year, the programme will support budding female coaches and officials.
Women make up only 18 per cent of qualified coaches and, despite recent developments – including women refereeing at the 2022 men’s football World Cup – remain underrepresented in sport.
Alongside the scholarship, we are also launching a new fund to support PhD students from all low participation backgrounds, to build upon the university’s excellent reputation in sport research.
We want to hear from businesses that share our vision and organisations that recognise the potential in talented sport leaders and seek to help them flourish.
It comes as no surprise that sport leaders make great business leaders.
‘There’s no I in team’ is one of the most used terms in sport, for which the reasons are well earned.
To raise funds, the university is holding a sports dinner later this year.
We are pleased to announce Enterprise Rent-a-Car as the event’s first headline sponsor and the first co-supporter of the scholarship, alongside Sodexo.
Louise Sivewright, Enterprise’s talent acquisition marketing specialist, says: “Enterprise is proud to support Northumbria and its students, and we are excited to be a headline sponsor of the event.
“Enterprise continues to work with Northumbria students in business and sport, as we believe those who participate in sporting activities possess leadership skills and key competencies that transcend business.
“We are looking forward to the launch of the scholarships, and to following the journey of recipient students.”
The dinner will bring together sporting guests, alumni, partners and students to showcase diversity and the transferable skills between sport and business.
Sponsorship packages, from £1000 to £10,000, are available in conjunction with North East Times Magazine.
We are committed to Higher Education Without Barriers.
Together, we can ensure nobody is left behind.