Celebration of Partnership and Progression 2022!

On Wednesday 30th November, Weston College hosted a Celebration of Partnership and Progression evening, which celebrated the progression that has been made over the last academic year, as well as recognising the key partnerships the College has in helping achieve this success.

Employers and industry leaders from across the region were among 250 guests at the event, which was held at the Winter Gardens Pavilion Ballroom.

Sir Paul Phillips, Principal and CEO of Weston College Group, hosted the event and took the guests through the collective success of the College, its students and staff achievements as well as launching the Group’s Annual Report, which details the College’s progress in 21/22 and outlines the year ahead and the exciting range of projects on the horizon.

Highlights of the year included the success of the 300 in 50 campaign, where the ambitious goal of recruiting 300 apprenticeship sign-ups in just 50 working days was smashed by the College, as well as the success of the Career Excellence Hub and the Institute of Technology both exceeding expectations and national benchmarks.

A selection of awards were also presented during the evening, the first of which was the UWE Bristol Partnership Award, to celebrate individual contributions which have added to the strength and success of the partnership. This was awarded to UWE Bristol’s Sarah Howell, Susan Ylimaz, Fiona Lawrence and Marianne Reed who have each demonstrated their commitment to delivering outstanding results for both Weston College and UWE Bristol.

The second award was the Carnegie Centre of Excellence – Further Education Mental Health Award, awarded to Weston College for “demonstrating excellence across all eight competencies of the Further Education Mental Health Award”, as commented by the Award assessor. Dr Georgie Ford, the College’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Excellence Lead collected the award.

The final award of the night was the People, Culture and Wellbeing Quality Mark, a national award which recognises Weston College as being at the forefront of implementing person-centred initiatives that increase productivity by developing skillsets and supporting mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. Weston College is the first education institution to achieve this! This accreditation was presented on stage to the College’s Assistant Principal Ben Knocks and Caroline Pringle, the College’s HR Director.

Sir Paul Phillips commented on the evening: “The Celebration of Partnership and Progression was an incredible opportunity to recognise not only the success of Weston College, but also our key partners, who play such an important role in contributing to the collective success. I am incredibly proud of every achievement we have gained this year, and very much look forward to the coming year to see what possibilities await us.

Many congratulations to those who were presented an award tonight, your hard work and dedication is highly valued.”

The event was hugely successful and provided excellent networking opportunities for a range of local and regional businesses, charities and organisations.