Cardiff and Vale College and Cardiff City House of Sport launch Cardiff International Sports Campus
Cardiff and Vale College and Cardiff City House of Sport have heralded a unique partnership that will see Cardiff International Sports Stadium transformed into an inspirational learning campus and community facility.
Cardiff City Council Leader Cllr Phil Bale, CAVC Deputy Principal Mark Roberts and House of Sport Director Steve Borley all spoke at a special event at the stadium in Leckwith, now renamed Cardiff International Sports Campus. They were celebrating an agreement between the council and the two organisations that has secured the future of the stadium.
The event at Cardiff International Sports Campus brought together key stakeholders and individuals in the sport sector and local community to raise awareness of the facility as a sporting hub for the community, as well as for national and international fixtures. Local community groups, schools and sports organisations were encouraged to use the campus for their sporting activities and its inspirational learning facilities were showcased in a series of guided tours.
CAVC’s Rugby and Football academies showed off their skills on the pitch, while CAVC sport students demonstrated the new gym facilities. Brett Morse, who won gold in the 2010 Olympics in the discus throw, and Cardiff Blues full back and CAVC rugby coach Dan Fish were also on hand to network with guests.
Signed in April, the agreement between the Council, College and House of Sport will see significant investment made by the long-term partnership into improving and diversifying existing facilities, providing the community with state-of-the-art sport surfaces able to accommodate a wide range of sports alongside an inspirational learning environment for people in the region looking to build a career in the sports industry.
Work has already taken place at the site to replace the existing AstroTurf pitch with a more flexible and sustainable 3G option allowing for the community to access it in all-weathers with plans to add a second 3G pitch this summer whilst transformations to the interior of the stadium have created 12 classrooms and the new gym facility for CAVC’s sport students.
Speaking at the event, Cllr Bale said: “I am delighted to be here today to see the wide range of sporting activities on this site and to see the obviously huge amount of demand there is for them.
“If you want young people to get into sport then you have to make sure that there sporting facilities in this city as this city is the growth area. The work taking place with Cardiff and Vale College and House of Sport is excellent work and I wish you the very best luck for the future – but I already know it will be an outstanding success.
“I think this partnership could be a template for how we as a council work to make sure we embrace organisations who are already delivering great work and help them deliver more.”
CAVC Deputy Principal Mark Roberts said: “When we took on this proposal the College and House of Sport wanted to do four things. We wanted to safeguard and develop this facility as it’s an international-standard stadium that should be available for all of the community. We also wanted to support elite athletics – this is Wales’ national athletics stadium and elite athletics isn’t just about individual achievement as it can act as an inspiration to both nations and individuals.
“Community participation is key to Cardiff International Sports Campus – from community sport through to competitive leagues or park runs, we want to get everyone participating in sport. And finally we want to provide a centre of excellence for education and training. Education is not just about academia, it can be a means of progression in people’s lives or careers and the College’s wide range of sport courses can attract people for who education might seemed like to right direction to them.”
House of Sport Director Steve Borley said: “When I was approached by the Council for a solution to the stadium and I knew we had a chance to develop a sport learning campus with our partners Cardiff and Vale College. That vision was made possible with the assistance of Cardiff City Council, the Sport department at CAVC and the team here at the stadium.
“Cardiff International Sports Campus will see growth, particularly around the west of the city, and especially in rugby. We are going to provide all-weather, all-year-round facilities to get young people participating in sport.”
For more information on the facilities or to book visit www.cardiffinternationalsportscampus.wales
ENDS
Notes to editors
- Photos show – Press 06 (l-r): Matt Newman of Welsh Athletics, Steve Borley of House of Sport, CAVC Deputy Principal Mark Roberts, Brett Morse, CAVC Deputy Principal Kay Martin, Cllr Phil Bale, Brian Davies of Sport Wales. Press 07 (l-r): Mark Roberts, Steve Borley, Cllr Phil Bale
- Cardiff and Vale College is one of the top companies for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the National Centre for Diversity’s 2016 Top 100 Index
- Cardiff and Vale College was awarded College of the Year at the 2015 Insider Business and Education Partnership Awards
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For more information contact:
Chris Baker
Communications Officer
Tel: 01446 725003. Mob: 07932 770938
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