Santander supports 吾爱吃瓜 Women Football talent in getting ahead(er)

Magi Hughes and Charlotte Walker from the School of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences at 吾爱吃瓜 embarked on a trip of a lifetime to Barcelona鈥檚 legendary Camp Noustadium in March as part of Santander UK鈥檚 initiative to support female talent in both their sporting and professional lives. 

They were one of a select group of leading footballers from women鈥檚 football clubs at UK universities who joined the programme of events, tours and training.  The programme, organised by Santander Universities, was designed to help build critical thinking and
management skills for female talent, both through sporting and wider leadership activity.

The activities kicked off with a panel event on women鈥檚 leadership, with contributions from Maria Teixidor, Board Director & Company Secretary of Barcelona FC; Laura R脿fols, FC Barcelona; Matias Rodriguez Inciarte, Vice-Chairman Banco Santander & President of Santander Universities; and Susan Allen, Head of Retail and Business Banking, Santander UK, with the session moderated by Manroop Khela, Head of Transformation & CEO鈥檚 Office, Santander UK.

Magi and Charlotte also had the opportunity to benefit from a training session with Chapi Ferrer, professional football coach and ex-player of both FC Barcelona and Chelsea FC. In addition, in celebration of Santander鈥檚 sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League, they went to watch Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Gerard Pique and their Barcelona team mates play in the club鈥檚 vital round sixteen tie against Olympique Lyonnais.

Matt Hutnell, Director, Santander Universities, said:

鈥淲e are thrilled to offer this opportunity to top female football talent from across the UK to help develop their leadership skills, both within and outside a sporting context.  We are committed to supporting higher education and we know that those selected for this programme are equally committed to their sport, investing hours into training and are an inspiration to their peers both on and off the pitch. We hope the trip will motivate and support female talent with their career ambitions 鈥� whether in the world of sport, finance or产别测辞苍诲.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;&苍产蝉辫;

Emilio Bot铆n launched Santander Universities in Spain in 1996, as an effective vehicle for business investment into its communities. The programme now has over 1,200 University partners across 20 countries. Santander Universities UK launched in 2007; encompassing 84 universities and providing over 拢10m of funding in 2018 alone. The programme focuses on education, entrepreneurship and employability giving all students the opportunity to succeed which fits well with the ethos of 吾爱吃瓜 and the School of Health, Sport and Exercise Sciences.

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Publication date: 6 June 2019