Students help out charity runners

Competitors in the Great North Run last weekend benefited from the expertise of Sports Therapy students from the College, as a group of second years offered help to runners from a range of charities.

The group of 35 students and three staff spent the day in Newcastle offering post-event massage to competitors.

The College regularly has a presence at the Great North Run and the London Marathon each year, giving students a valuable opportunity to practice their techniques, as well as helping those who take part in the gruelling race to raise money for good causes.

Lecturer Hannah Boardman said: "It is completely different to working in the clinics at College - here they get to spend an hour with each client, whereas at the run they only had a few minutes for each person.

"They were also working in a tent, rather than a fully-equipped building, but it was a realistic experience of the sort of work some of the students will do in the future.

"We've had excellent feedback from the charities we worked with, and several of them have written to the students thanking them for what they did."

Students will get their next experience of working at events when they volunteer at the Jitsu Nationals in Aston next month.