UEL launches pioneering Active Campus initiative

An innovative project to make the University of East London a centre of inclusive wellness for the benefit of students, staff and the wider community launches this autumn with the opening of a new activity trail and pop-up swimming pool.

Active Campus encourages people to move their bodies by engaging in a plethora of wellness events and activities designed for any level of engagement. 

The first phase is the Active Trail, a mile-long loop running around the Docklands campus; work on the trail begins this month. The trail links up different spaces and places and features a variety of engaging spots along the route to promote active health, wellness, and self-discovery. It will be open to all, and schools and local community members are encouraged to use it. 

An Active Campus celebration is scheduled to take place on the Docklands Campus on 26 October, with Olympic 400 metres champion, Christine Ohuruogu MBE, and the University’s Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Amanda Broderick, formally opening the Active Trail.

The University’s Assistant Chief Operating Officer for Sport and Active Campus, Hilary Lissenden, said

Our integrated Active Campus is delivering something truly innovative, not just for the University, but for the higher education and sport sectors. We are challenging traditional perceptions of what it means to ‘be active’ and offering something to engage every member of our community for health, learning, wellbeing and social outcomes.

“I believe the University of East London is rightly positioned as a leader in the field of active health.”

Active Campus is part of the University’s mission to promote active health and wellbeing for all. Scientific evidence suggests that simply moving more – individually or together – improves physical health and wellbeing as well as creating a stronger sense of connection and belonging to one’s community.

The trail will be joined by a pop-up swimming pool for students and staff situated in the Aqua East car park. The pool will be free of charge, heated, treated, enclosed, and with its own changing facilities nearby. 

A programme of offerings includes bespoke swimming skills and water confidence classes, and there is also the opportunity to try water therapy sessions, which include aqua-yoga, Pilates and mindfulness. 

Plans are progressing for Active Campus to take on a youthful flavour in the coming months, with the introduction to the Docklands campus of a pop-up skatepark. The park is being designed by a University student studying for an MA in landscape architecture, and the urban look and feel of the site will be created by visual art and design students. Sports scholars from the University with skating experience will be working with the North London Skate Club and other local community organisations to provide expert coaching, as well as staging inspirational demonstrations of their skating skills and graffiti art workshops. Local schools and community groups will be invited to join open-access sessions at the park – another example of the Active Campus project’s focus on reaching out to the wider community.      

Meanwhile, a range of other themed activities, classes and events  – collectively called Active Journey – will also be available throughout the year.

Active Campus is an integral part of the East London Global Sport Strategy, an ambitious plan to build on the University’s reputation for sporting excellence and extend the beneficial impact of sport and physical activity to all students, staff and stakeholders, as well as to the University’s regional, national and international partners. 

The world-class facilities at the University’s centre for sport, SportsDock, play a major part in the plan and have been widely recognised internationally, serving as the home of Team USA during the 2012 London Olympics.

Find out more about Active Campus. 

Schedule of Events

Active Trail: Opens Mid-October
Mobile Pool: Opens 23 October (UEL staff and students only) 
Active Campus Celebration: 26 October (Open to all) - Active Campus Celebration Tickets, Thu 26 Oct 2023 at 16:00 | Eventbrite
Pop-Up Skate Park: TBC
Active Journey activities: Ongoing