The Youth Sport Trust (YST) was founded in 1995 for the purpose of improving every young person's education and development through sport and play. The Alexander Charitable Trust provided funding to the YST to facilitate opportunities for women in sport and education until its closure in 1999. Thereafter, Eileen Alexander became a Patron of the YST and provided personal donations to support bids from individual schools to achieve Specialist Sports College Status. Specialist sport colleges put extra emphasis on Physical Education and games, and were part of a Government strategy for sport launched in 2000 to increase their number from 37 in 2000 to 110 in 2003.
Contains correspondence and related papers with the YST, and three schools supported with funding from Eileen Alexander in their bid for Specialist Sports College Status: Roade School in Northampton, Netherhall School in Cambridge and Redborne Upper School in Ampthill; press cuttings reporting on the Government's strategy for sport in 2000 and on a report critical of sport provision in 2005; published report on the 2004 'Sports College National Survey' outlining key findings about Sports College activities and the impact they have on their school and community.