Sport England has given Kingston College £136,000 to reduce the number of students who complete fewer than 30 minutes of activity a week.

Sport England’s new strategy ‘Towards an Active Nation’ aims to get people moving again and, as part of the initiative, £5 million is being investing into projects in colleges to make that happen.

Sport England research found that nearly one fifth (about 138,000) of college students do fewer than 30 minutes of physical activity a week and two thirds of the inactive group do nothing at all.

The research also found students who go to college are more inactive than those who go to sixth form or university.

The benefits of getting more exercise can be huge- one in six adults in the UK die as a result of being inactive.

The Kingston College ‘Tackling Inactivity in Colleges’ project aims to provide a variety of physical activity opportunities to all students in all departments.

The project will also promote the health and mental wellbeing benefits associated with taking part in regular physical activity and encourage better mental health across the student population.

There will be targeted sessions to encourage commonly inactive groups to be more active, such as female only sessions and reduced gym memberships.

The College has said a “huge thank you” to Sport England and the National Lottery for the funding for the “huge difference” it will make to its students’ health and wellbeing.

A spokeswoman said: “Around one in five college students are inactive and many come from groups that have lower socio-economic status or from ethnic groups that are less likely to be active.

“Colleges in the programme will target these groups specifically to reduce the activity gap between them and their student peers.”

Mike Diaper, executive director of community sport said: “We are delighted to offer Kingston College National Lottery funding to help get students active.

“College is a crucial time in a young person’s development.

“It is often the first time that activity is not a compulsory part of their study programme and therefore all too many young people become inactive.

“This funding will allow colleges to be innovative in addressing the needs and desires of their students to help embed activity in their lifestyle in college and for years to come.”