The talented soap makers at HMP Eastwood enjoyed a bumper day at the Gloucestershire WI’s AGM last week.

They sold their entire stock of 100 bars of Eastwood Soap before lunch-time at the event held at Cheltenham Town Hall.

Eastwood Soaps produces a range of luxury and novelty glycerine soaps, handmade by the women at HMP Eastwood Park Prison. The women enrol on a four-week craft and retail course, and once they are trained in soap-making they get the chance to make some of the luxury soap, which then goes out for retail sale.

The soaps are sold by three retailers:

• Berkeley Castle (GL13 9PJ)
• Leyhill Grounds Coffee Shop (GL12 8BT)
• Jail House Café, The Verne (DT5 1EQ).

To find out more about Eastwood Soaps, click here

Weston Bay learners have been renovating the 1st North Worle Scout Hut over the last three weeks, painting, decorating and clearing the gardens.

To fund this they have been fundraising through a summer fete and a bag packing session at Asda. The learners then went and bought all the paints and gardening tools needed.

Weston Bay learners will be hosting the grand opening this Thursday (27th June) from 4-5.30pm at the North Worle Scout Hut. There will be some food, drink and speeches from the learners. Please come along and show your support.

Last year, four Media Production students were given an exciting brief from Aerospace Bristol – to create a short video to be played in the museum’s exhibition.

This live project brief saw four students gain valuable experience, as they put their theory to the test and ran a project from start to finish.

As part of this project, students carried out research on the engineering industry, planned video content and organised interviews. They also worked closely with Weston College engineering students, to get a taste of what the industry entails.

One student that worked on the project is Chloe Bailey. She said: “I believe that every single member of the team worked to their strengths, which is what pulled us through to the screening day and finishing off the project. We were proud of the final outcome and look forward to seeing it at the exhibition.”

Chloe was joined on the project by her classmates Kate Busby, John Davies and Kraig Taylor-Bryant.

Amy Seadon, Learning and Community Engagement Manager at Aerospace Bristol, said: “The team did a fantastic job.

“They listened carefully to the brief and produced a wonderful short film which truly brought out and showcased the enthusiasm of the engineering students. We hope that seeing it will inspire more young people to explore a career in engineering.”

The video, which showcased the world of engineering – including what it is like to study engineering in the 21st century – premiered last December and is now on display for Aerospace Bristol visitors to see.

The project was carried out as part of the Media Production Level 3 ‘Client Brief’ unit, which is designed to give our students real-life experience of working with a client.

You can find out more information on our Media Production courses, here.