Initiated by Universities UK, a representative organisation founded in 1918 to act as a voice for all universities in the UK, over 100 universities are part of the scheme which has proved a success for the past three years.
Initially, the proposal was to highlight the various aspects of universities often overlooked by the public. For example, as major employers, universities create over 300,000 jobs across the UK. As research-based institutions, they contribute a substantial £3bn a year to the UK economy in terms of healthcare research.
Moreover, they also contribute to their local community, with 65 per cent of graduates staying to work in the region after the completion of their course and 67,000 students every year volunteering for charity to help in their local community. Although Universities Week may not be an extremely well publicised event, recognition is slowly rising, with 380 pieces of media coverage from 2011’s week alone.
Universities Week 2012 is using the London 2012 Olympics as their overarching theme of the seven days, with an importance being put on the role of sport in student life. In exclusive ‘Talking Head’ films launched in preparation for the week, sporting legends such as Olympic gold medallists Dame Kelly Holmes, Jason Gardener and Steve Cram talk about how universities helped with their achievements.
This relationship is helped by the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) who have rganised an outdoor athletics championship in the Olympic stadium on Saturday 5 May. The BUCS sporting programme is available to all 2.3 million students across the UK with events from the national surfing championships in October to the final events, including shooting, cricket and athletics in July.
Universities Week 2012 demonstrates university support for the summer Olympics and highlights the importance that sport is for a healthy student lifestyle. The high profile support from sporting celebrities means that more publicity than ever will be given to scheme, hopefully signifying the importance of higher education and students alike among the British community.