Mr Deighton was part of a team of three representatives who discovered more about ‘Loughborough Flames: Lighting the Way’, the first East Midlands sports project to achieve the prestigious Inspire Mark.

The scheme, which was set up by the college and the British Heart Foundation, has seen students pioneering sporting activities for local school children alongside a healthy living message.

Chris McGeorge, the College’s elite sport education and development officer, said: “It was a great honour to show Mr Deighton the fantastic work that is being done here and to discuss the possibility of taking the project nationwide.

“We were delighted to become one of the first further education establishments in the country to achieve the Inspire Mark and we want to continue to spread the cultural message of the Olympiad as a lasting legacy of the Games.”

As well as being impressed with the Loughborough Flames project, Mr Deighton was also delighted to see how the College showed a commitment to the Olympic and Paralympic Values as a whole.

He said: “Sport, culture and education should go together. Our top sports stars also need to get the best in education and Loughborough is a great example of that. The College provides education and there is the big contribution the engineering department is playing to support high performance sports.”