Students in Bradford are being urged to give sport another go after a project secured £260,000 in National Lottery funding from Sport England.

Along with 40 other projects, Active Bradford is being backed by Sport England’s £10 million Active Universities fund to get more university students playing sport as part of the mass participation legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Active Bradford will offer joint sporting opportunities for students at both the University of Bradford and Bradford College.

A variety of innovative programmes, including Street Sports, will encourage more people to get involved in a wide range of individual and team sports.

The university and college are targeting 2,080 new participants over the three years of the project.

Professor Mark Cleary, vice-chancellor of the University of Bradford, said: “This project will provide a great opportunity for more students in Bradford to become actively engaged in sport in the run up to the 2012 Olympic Games.

"This funding will also enhance the student experience for both college and university students, at the same time as improving graduate employment. We are really excited about the opportunities this project brings to the university.”

The Active Universities projects will give tens of thousands of students across the country the chance to try out a new sport, or get back into one they’ve tried before.

Boosting student participation will have a lasting impact on grass-roots sport because research shows that students who do play sport at university are far more likely to continue participating throughout their lives.

It will also help tackle the issue of drop-off in sports participation that sees many young people giving up sport in their late teens and early twenties.

Sport England’s chief executive Jennie Price said: “Young adults who are still playing sport when they leave university are likely to stick with it for life, so this is a good investment in the future.

"These projects have been chosen because they really listened to what students wanted, so we are confident they will succeed in increasing participation.”

The announcement was welcomed by the Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson MP and Olympic gold medallist Amy Williams.

Robertson said: “This funding for 41 different sport projects across the country is exactly what our Olympic legacy promise is about – offering more opportunities for people to get involved.

"This will boost university sport and encourage students to continue playing once their studies are over.”

Amy Williams, who won the skeleton event at the 2010 Winter Games, only took up her sport while at the University of Bath, having been a 400-metre runner at school.

She said: “Going to university is a great chance to try out something new, and in my case that something new was the skeleton.

"Sport is an amazing way to make friends, get fit, have fun and pick up skills that could help you get a job when your student days are over.”

Recognising the strong tradition of competitive sport within universities, Active Universities projects will meet the need for more informal and social sporting opportunities. The projects were chosen through a competitive process.

Ed Smith, chair of British Universities and Colleges Sport, said: “This represents a great outcome for higher education and a fabulous opportunity to increase the depth and breadth of participation by young people while they benefit from academic studies and the overall student experience at university.

"The link between sport and life skills is evident from the way employers seek out people who are active in sport and this will be a boost as graduates make their way into the job market.”