More than 100 pupils who promote sport within their schools have received special recognition at an event held by Plymouth University.Young ambassadors for the Plymouth Schools Sports Partnership (PSSP) met athletic role models from the University and furthered their skills in promoting sporting opportunities at the celebration event last week.
The pupils, who came from secondary schools all over Plymouth, were invited to the day as a reward for their hard work leading, coaching and promoting sport within their schools and throughout the city.
Awards, which are named after PSSP honorary Olympic patrons, were also presented to those whose work throughout the year had gone above and beyond. These awards had been designed and made by the University’s graphic design students.
The Sarah Barrow Award for the Leadership Academy of the Year was won by Hele’s School, The Tonia Couch Award for Young Ambassador of the Year went to Grace Elliot Smith and The Andy Banks Award for the Best Overall Contribution to the PSSP was won by Claire Murray and Hayley Jarvis.
Howard Turner, PSSP Leadership and Volunteering Coordinator, said the day had been inspirational for all of the pupils involved.
The pupils, who came from secondary schools all over Plymouth, were invited to the day as a reward for their hard work leading, coaching and promoting sport within their schools and throughout the city.
Awards, which are named after PSSP honorary Olympic patrons, were also presented to those whose work throughout the year had gone above and beyond. These awards had been designed and made by the University’s graphic design students.
The Sarah Barrow Award for the Leadership Academy of the Year was won by Hele’s School, The Tonia Couch Award for Young Ambassador of the Year went to Grace Elliot Smith and The Andy Banks Award for the Best Overall Contribution to the PSSP was won by Claire Murray and Hayley Jarvis.
Howard Turner, PSSP Leadership and Volunteering Coordinator, said the day had been inspirational for all of the pupils involved.
“The whole day has been truly superb and I know all involved got a lot out of it,” he said. “The PSSP Young Ambassador Programme is part of a national initiative empowering young people to inspire students from their schools and around the city to choose to take part in sport and physical education. Through being young ambassadors, students develop advanced life and employability skills which enables them to succeed in life outside of their schools within the community, the work place and further education.”
Caitie Hall, Partnerships and Community Engagement Officer at Plymouth University, said:
“All of the pupils here today have made a huge contribution to boosting sport participation in their schools and wider communities, so it’s brilliant to be able to welcome them here and celebrate. Plymouth University prides itself on the wonderful sporting opportunities we are able to offer to all students, along with the support we are able to give to those who compete at national or international level, and we were pleased to be able to share that with these young sporting ambassadors.”
The PSSP is a joint partner of Plymouth University and its Student’s Union (UPSU), with support from the Relays@UPSU programme and volunteers.
Relays@UPSU is a project which offers a range of creative outreach activities and events for school pupils and young people, focused around sport, culture and education, whilst providing exciting volunteering and training opportunities for student volunteers who would like to work with young people. The project aims to increase the profile of Higher Education and raise the aspirations of young people by showcasing the extra-curricular activities that are available at University, and compliments the work carried out by Plymouth University in supporting under-represented groups to successfully progress to Higher Education.