While 35,000 runners are gearing up to take part in a gruelling 26 mile run through the streets of London, 20 Blackpool and The Fylde College students will be waiting at the finish line to massage the aching muscles of one group of charity runners.

The Sports and Exercise Sciences students from Ansdell Campus will make the trip down south for the Virgin London Marathon in April. They have volunteered their services for the Anthony Nolan Trust, a national leukaemia charity with a team of around 250 runners from all over the country raising money for them at this year’s event.

Blackpool and The Fylde College played host to a group of Norwegian students in a bid to attract more overseas learners onto its higher education courses.

Staff and students from the Glemmen Upper Secondary School were in town from 7-9 March to find out about specialist courses, life at Blackpool and The Fylde College and what Blackpool is like as a resort.

Back in 2006, at the height of Labour’s plans for more relaxed gambling legislation, Blackpool was shortlisted as one of the key locations for a “super casino”; huge casino resorts which offered the very best in Las Vegas style gaming. Heralded by cabinet ministers at the time as a way of regenerating towns and cities, in May 2006, Tessa Jowell, (the then culture secretary) told the BBC that the government would ensure they introduced “the most protective legislation in the world” with regards to casino gambling, noting that the planned super casinos would not increase problem gambling issues in the UK.

Blackpool and The Fylde College students are being told ‘fall in love with your climate’ as the College launches its first ever Go Green Week from 8-12 February.

A full programme of events is planned for the week, all of which carry an environmental message.

A successful training initiative between Blackpool and The Fylde College, Job Centre Plus, Global Renewables Lancashire and the Learning and Skills Council is to be celebrated with a presentation ceremony for learners.

More than 80 candidates have completed Global Renewables Lancashire’s Employability Programme, a bespoke training programme designed to help both long-term unemployed people, and employed people, into sustainable work by giving them skills and qualifications directly linked to a job.

Blackpool and The Fylde College’s Electrical Installations Section has been given a boost thanks to a donation of electrical equipment from Smith Group UK Ltd.

Eco friendly fashion students at Blackpool and The Fylde College embarked on a mission to make green the new black with the very first ‘Mend not Spend Day’, aimed at raising awareness of recycling and restyling clothing and accessories.

Students who have a way with words will leave a lasting legacy at Blackpool and The Fylde College after successfully entering an original quote competition.

Blackpool and The Fylde College’s new £10million University Centre has been officially opened by Lord Tom McNally of Blackpool in a spectacular festive themed ceremony which saw the College ‘unwrap’ its present to the town.

The University Centre, situated at the College’s central Blackpool site on Palatine Road, has been funded in partnership with the Northwest Regional Development Agency and Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and supported by ReBlackpool.

The stylish, newly constructed Central Hub offers state of the art learning and support facilities for students and links together the existing buildings to create a modern, campus style environment. Centralised resources such as catering and student support have freed up much needed space in the existing buildings for future growth, while hard and soft landscaping and a tree lined avenue provide an impressive outdoor space.

Blackpool and The Fylde College's talented choir were delighted to be invited to the live Children in Need broadcast from Blue Planet Aquarium in Cheshire.

The 16 students sang Barry Manilow’s ‘One Voice’, and choir leader David Scott-Thomas was pleased that all their hours of extra rehearsals paid off as their faultless performance was broadcast across the Northwest. They also presented a cheque on the night on behalf of the College to the tune of £1,800.