Cardiff Metropolitan University Marks 20 Years of Changing Lives Through Sport in Zambia

Cardiff Metropolitan University has proudly celebrated 20 years of the Volunteer Zambia project, an international sport-for-development initiative that has transformed lives across Zambia while offering life-changing opportunities for Cardiff Met students and staff members. 

The three-day Twentieth Anniversary Gala (TAG), held in Lusaka from 4-6 August 2025, brought together key Zambian and UK stakeholders to mark two decades of partnership with Zambian NGO Sport in Action. Since joining the founding group of universities in 2005, Cardiff Met has been at the heart of the project's mission: to use sport as a catalyst for sustainable development, education, and youth empowerment. 

Over the last 20 years, Cardiff Met students and staff have joined more than 800 UK volunteers delivering sport and leadership programmes in communities where safe spaces and opportunities are often limited. Collectively, the project has supported over 17,000 young Zambians in the past year alone, and since its inception, has generated more than 12 million Kwacha in facility development, including the creation of basketball and netball courts across the country. 

The 20-year celebrations highlighted the breadth of the programme's impact. Students, local coaches, and hub-site coordinators delivered two large-scale multi-sport festivals, including one event with over 900 participants, promoting inclusive sport and tackling key social issues such as gender-based violence and inequality. 

Ben O'Connell, Cardiff Met's Director of Sport and Chair of the Wallace Group, said: "Zambia isn’t always a safe place to grow up. For many, there are no playgrounds, no coaches, no opportunities. That’s why these few hours of sport each week matter so much. It’s more than a game, it’s a safe space, a chance to belong, and a spark for something better. 

Through Volunteer Zambia, our Cardiff Met students see this first-hand. They’re not just coaching and gaining real-life skills; they’re building confidence, creating role models, and showing young girls that they have the right to play, to lead, and to dream.” 

The celebrations also included the launch of two significant partnerships: 

World Netball Partnership Expansion: Building on the success of Zambia's netball hub-site model, which now supports over 263 teams and 350 coaches, the approach will be rolled out to other African nations, starting with 11 sites in Ivory Coast. 

Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Zambia Collaboration: Combining sport, self-directed learning, and community service, the initiative has already achieved a 93% completion rate in its first cohort. 

Representatives from Cardiff Met joined Zambian government officials, the British High Commission, international sports bodies, and fellow Wallace Group universities to reflect on the programme's legacy and map out the next 20 years of impact. 

For more information, visit:  www.volunteer-zambia.com  www.sport-in-action.com