The University of Aberdeen scooped gold and bronze at an awards ceremony celebrating the contributions academic institutions are making to the Commonwealth Games.
The Game Changer awards, which were held in Glasgow last night (Thursday), were developed to recognise those in the education sector who are supporting this major sporting event that will open in Glasgow on July 23.
The Commonwealth Sports Tour - a 12 week programme of events aiming to engage children from the local community with Commonwealth Sports and enhance their understanding of the Commonwealth - secured the Aberdeen University Sports Union the top award in the Learning and Skills category of the awards.
A scheme developed by the University of Aberdeen’s Sport and Exercise Team making free swimming lessons available to hundreds of staff and students of the University at the new state of the art Aberdeen Aquatics Centre, was awarded the bronze award in the Sporting Contribution Category of the competition.
Gillian Kerr of the University’s Sports and Exercise Team said: “To have won a Gold and Bronze Award is fantastic, the Games Changer Awards has been such a great way to celebrate our contributions to the Commonwealth Legacy.
“It has been an honour to be recognised, showcasing our work against 110 strong applicants from universities and colleges around Scotland. They all came up with some outstanding projects and it is great to have the University of Aberdeen be so highly commended for its sporting contributions.”
Marc McCorkell, University of Aberdeen’s Student President for Sport, added: "We are all ecstatic at the Sports Union to have won Gold. Our students are looking forward to working in partnership with ASV and the local community to embed the Legacy 2014 Goals in everything we do."
Those interested in the Learn to Swim scheme can contact Gillian Kerr at g.kerr@abdn.ac.uk
See website for details: www.abdn.ac.uk/sportandexercise/learntoswim/
The Commonwealth Sports Tour is organised in partnership with the Aberdeen Sports Village, where all the events will take place. Events kick off on April 21. For more information visit
www.aberdeensportsvillage.com/children-s-activities/kids-asv/commonwealth-sports-tour
For more information on the Game Changer Awards 2014 visit www.gamechangerawards.org/.