Partnership with Portsmouth Football Club shortlisted for national award

The University has been shortlisted for a Heist Award for our work engaging the community through our partnership with Portsmouth Football Club.

The Awards, which is celebrating its 30 year anniversary, rewards excellence and innovation within education marketing.

Our partnership with the football club has been nominated for ‘Best Community/ Business Engagement Campaign or Initiative’ for initiatives that engage with the local community. 

Now entering the third season as Main Club Partner to Portsmouth FC, our partnership has:

• Provided over 100 placements for students across diverse departments, including overseeing and running the jumbo screen in-stadium viewed by over 18,500 fans on match days pre Covid-19 
• Reached over 1,500 pupils from school visits with the Club, with the aim of reaching 2,500 as the project progresses
• Given our Dental Academy students hands on experience carrying out pre-season oral health checks with young players in the PFC Academy, with the hope to roll these out further within the city
• Created a professional pathway for students and researchers in Sport Science to work closely with the First Team to support student experience, research development and knowledge sharing
• Enabled fans to become more familiar with the University, with over 50% feeling the University has an extremely positive impact on the city as a whole.

Looking ahead, initiatives are being planned for widening participation of students, as well as life-changing experiences and opportunities to help improve society.

Last year the University’s Marketing and Communications Department won a Silver Award for Marketing Team of the Year. The format and date for this year’s virtual event will be announced soon.