Northumbria Sports student enjoys dream trip to the Nou Camp

A Northumbria University student experienced the trip of a lifetime to Barcelona’s legendary Camp Nou stadium in March, as part of Santander UK’s initiative to support female talent in both their sporting and professional lives.

Faye Mullen was one of a select group of leading footballers from women’s football clubs at UK universities to be selected for a 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’s leadership, with contributions from Maria Teixidor, Board Director & Company Secretary of Barcelona FC; Laura Ràfols, 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’s Office, Santander UK.

Faye, who is Vice-Captain of Northumbria University’s Women’s Football Team, 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’s sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League, Faye had the chance to watch Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Gerard Pique and their Barcelona team mates play in the club’s vital round sixteen tie against Olympique Lyonnais.

Commenting on the trip Faye said: “The trip to Barcelona was a fantastic opportunity to meet other players from women’s football teams and hear from inspirational figures from the football and business worlds. Santander’s commitment to promoting female leadership is not something I was aware of before and I have really enjoyed learning more about what they do to support women in this area. I’m very grateful to have had such a fantastic experience.”

Matt Hutnell, Director, Santander Universities, said “We 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 – whether in the world of sport, finance or beyond.” 

Emilio Botín 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 £10m of funding in 2018 alone. The programme focuses on education, entrepreneurship and employability giving all students the opportunity to succeed.