Weston College held a successful fundraising week in March, raising £3600 for local charity Weston Hospicecare.

Over the week students and staff from across the College took part in various activities, with the aim of raising money for the local charity.

The main event of the week was dress up day, in which staff and students all over the College got in the spirit, dressing up as superheroes, unicorns, octopuses and air hostesses for the day.

There were also a number of awards given out for those who contributed to the week’s success. The College’s Inclusive Practice Faculty won the overall award for fundraising, after students came up with inventive ways of raising money, including writing the first sentences of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in coins.

Weston Hospicecare was thrilled with the money donated to them.

Rachel Mansfield, community fundraiser at Weston Hospicecare, said: “We are once again enormously grateful to the students of Weston College for the fabulous support offered during their RAG week celebrations.

“We’ve loved following the students’ exploits, and we’re thrilled by the incredible amount of money raised for Weston Hospicecare – it really will play a big part in enabling us to support people with life-limiting illnesses and their families across Weston-Super-Mare and beyond.

“We’d also like to say a special thank you to the students from Weston College’s Inclusive Practice Faculty, who won an award for an outstanding contribution to the charity week for a video they created on behalf of Weston Hospicecare – we enjoyed welcoming the students to the hospice when they were filming, and were really impressed by the super piece of work they put together.”

Creative Arts students from Weston College had the exciting opportunity to visit Bristol’s Marble Factory to watch the ‘Art Battle’ live painting competition.

The ‘Art Battle’ featured 12 artists, who had 20 minutes to create art on a blank canvas. The competition challenged the artists’ ability to work quickly and showcased their creative talent in front of an eager audience of art fans.

The winner is decided by an audience vote. All of the artwork produced on the night goes to a silent auction to support the artists involved.

Nicola Stent, Creative Arts lecturer at Weston College, who accompanied the learners, said: “This was a great opportunity for our learners. The group were engaged throughout the evening and they got involved with voting and purchasing artwork from the event.”

Weston College Art and Design students Cam Gelder and Heidi Lear will be taking part in the next ‘Art Battle’ in Bristol in November.

Nicola added: “We’re very excited to accompany Heidi and Cam and we wish them the best of luck!”

The event is taking place on Tuesday 13th November at the Marble Factory from 7pm. Spectator tickets are still available and can be purchased here.

Weston College is launching a campaign to create 600 new jobs and training opportunities in six months.

In a recent Somerset Chamber survey, 56% of employers stated that issues around education and skills were a concern for their business. This ambitious initiative will highlight the various ways that employers can engage with Weston College, raising awareness of the College’s comprehensive skills support offer.

There are many ways for employers to get involved, including taking on apprentices and offering work placements to Weston College students. Businesses that ‘pledge’ an opportunity will also reap a range of benefits to help them gain an edge over competitors. This drive follows hot on the heels of the College’s successful bid to create 200 apprenticeship vacancies in 100 days. That campaign exceeded targets, creating 100 apprenticeships in just 71 days, eventually placing 230 apprentices with employers throughout the south west.

Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Principal and Chief Executive of the Weston College Group, said: “One of the greatest challenges faced by the education sector, and society as a whole, is equipping people with the skills they need in an increasingly competitive and ever-changing world.

“The ‘600 in 6’ campaign takes up that challenge by seeking to inspire the future workforce, and supplementing learning programmes with relevant workplace skills and experience.

“This enterprising campaign is also about working with businesses to understand their training and recruitment needs and, ultimately, deliver genuine economic impact.

“Every opportunity ‘pledged’ by an employer will, potentially, change the life of a learner, and also bring a raft of benefits for their business and the region."

As well as providing apprenticeships and work experience, employers can get involved by giving guest lectures, upskilling their staff supporting inclusion in the workplace, accessing the College’s expanding and successful pre-employment programmes to find new recruits, accessing the award winning offender learning programme to employ ex-offenders, and provide students with ‘real-life’ projects to work on during their course.

By accessing skills support from Weston College, employers can utilise tailored training packages to invest in their workforce, reduce recruitment costs, improve staff retention and productivity, boost their profile, and access untapped pools of work-ready talent.

Businesses will also gain publicity through the campaign social media posts, dedicated webpages, media stories, videos and case studies, highlighting employers involved as businesses that invest in future talent.

The campaign runs from February 4 until the deadline on July 5.

If you would like to find out more about the ‘600 in 6’ campaign, or support the campaign, click here.