BU began a partnership with AFC Bournemouth in 2013, paving the way for students, staff, graduates and the local community to benefit from the club, as well as enjoying its success on the pitch.

Our students enjoy many opportunites through our partnership with AFC Bournemouth, including exclusive work placements and expert coaching from the club’s Community Sports Trust for our successful varsity football teamsThrough the trust, our students work alongside the club on season-long projects, as well as providing matchday support to the club’s media and commercial teams.

We have worked on community projects throughout the partnership. In many cases, we've tied our existing activities, such as school outreach work, into ongoing AFC Bournemouth projects. As a result, the schools we visit benefit from input from both the university and football club. For example, BU graduate Rob Mitchell visited Queen Elizabeth's School in Wimborne to talk to students about his job at AFC Bournemouth and how his BU course helped his career. And we engage even more youngsters through our students collaborating with the club's own outreach programmes.

We run joint events with AFC Bournemouth within the community and join them at their main events. We also involve the club in big occasions at BU, including Arrivals Week and our Festival of Learning – with festival activities linked to their popular family day this summer.

We also work with the club under their Green Goals initiative, with a student clean-up of Meyrick Park funded by the scheme since 2012 highlighting our longstanding collaboration with our local Premier League football team.