<p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Last week, the Winter Gardens hosted a fantastic Ramadan event to celebrate Iftar, the breaking of fast, where anyone was welcome to attend. With lectures, speeches, prayers, songs and lots of delicious food—it was unmissable and a great way to bring the community together and enrich people in the culture.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Ramadan is a month-long celebration of the Quran where Muslims do not eat or drink during daylight hours; this is known as fasting. Fasting allows Muslims to focus on their faith and remember the month that the Quran was first presented to the Prophet Mohammed. Ramadan takes place on the ninth month of the Islamic calendar which changes every year depending on the moon cycles, but this year, it began on&nbsp;Friday 28 February&nbsp;and will end on&nbsp;Sunday 30 March.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">At the Winter Gardens event, the evening commenced with a recitation of the Holy Quran, followed by captivating performances by Birmingham’s Nasheed group, Shaam. Aishah Ahmed from Aishah’s Food Charity, the organisation behind this event and the provider of the heaps of fantastic food, delivered an inspiring speech, highlighting their efforts and the importance of the event. This was followed by a lecture on the significance of Ramadan and a prayer before the sunset and the attendees broke their fast, indulging in the delicious spread.</span></p><drupal-entity alt="&quot;The Winter Gardens full of people celebrating the Ramadan event&quot;" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="4eaa28e3-cb41-48b8-b8da-69ea8d2b654b" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;image_style&quot;:&quot;max_500x500&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;image_loading&quot;:{&quot;attribute&quot;:&quot;lazy&quot;}}">&nbsp;</drupal-entity><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-top:16px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Aishah’s Food Charity prepared trays of food for each table, including roast chicken pieces, vegetable pakora, vegetable samosas, lamb, chicken and vegetable biryani, Dall soup, and baklava for dessert.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">This charity was set up by Aishah Ahmed, a 21-year-old Law student who wanted to help reduce hunger in Weston-super-Mare by setting up a hot meal foodbank every Wednesday evening to help those in need. She wanted to follow in her dad’s footsteps, Sayd Ahmed, who has a long reputation for similar work in the community. All the food was delicious and packed with flavour and heart which everyone in the room enjoyed.</span></p><drupal-entity alt="&quot;Hospitality and Catering students and staff standing smiling with Sayd Ahmed&quot;" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="92f0cec8-ec24-4413-b1bc-9352d87fbb23" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;image_style&quot;:&quot;max_500x500&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;image_loading&quot;:{&quot;attribute&quot;:&quot;lazy&quot;}}">&nbsp;</drupal-entity><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-top:16px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">In order to immerse our students in this religious occasion, our&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/hospi…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/hospi…; target="_blank"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Level 2 Hospitality and Catering</span></a><span style="font-size:inherit;"> learners assisted in the preparation of some of the food. During a workshop with local business owner, Syed, our students learnt how to make chicken biryani and vegetable pakora, focusing highly on the spices used. They even got to attend the event themselves to enrich themselves in the culture and gain a better understanding of Ramadan, as well as assisting in serving the dishes to the community.</span></p><drupal-entity alt="&quot;Syed cutting marinated chicken into pieces for the students to taste test&quot;" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="7a5e3908-290d-43e3-9db9-c80a202e2aba" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;image_style&quot;:&quot;max_500x500&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;image_loading&quot;:{&quot;attribute&quot;:&quot;lazy&quot;}}">&nbsp;</drupal-entity><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-top:16px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">The evening continued with other speeches from influential people from around Weston-super-Mare, lessons surrounding breaking the fast and the end of the fasting period, and concluding with a final performance from Nasheed by Shaam Group and closing ceremony remarks.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">This event had over 500 attendees from in and around Weston-super-Mare, welcoming everyone with open arms to learn about their religion and celebrate this event with the community as a whole. With delicious food, amazing company, and fantastic music, this event was a great way to celebrate Ramadan and Iftar, experiencing the cultural traditions and educating everyone about its importance.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">A big thank you to Aishah’s Food Charity for organising this event and allowing our&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/hospi…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/hospi…; target="_blank"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Hospitality and Catering</span></a><span style="font-size:inherit;"> students to be a part of it.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:0px;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">This workshop forms part of the Hospitality and Catering Careers Excellence Hub. Weston College's Career Excellence Hubs are designed to be the launching pad for our learners' careers. In a world where connections and relevant skills matter more than ever, these hubs offer a holistic approach that prepares learners to thrive in their chosen industries. With the support of these hubs, our learners are well-equipped to make a significant impact in their professional journeys.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:0px;margin-top:16px;"><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/hospi…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/hospi…; target="_blank"><span style="font-size:inherit;">If you’re interested in applying to one of our Hospitality and Catering courses, click here.</span></a></p>

<p>Hi, I’m Lola, and I am a Senior Maternity Support Worker Apprentice (the senior healthcare support worker apprenticeship on the maternity pathway). This is my first professional role in the NHS, as I previously completed Innovate and UHBW Traineeship courses at Weston College which helped me develop soft skills to start in this role.</p><p>Some of my roles and responsibilities within my apprenticeship include:&nbsp;</p><ul><li><strong>maternal and neonatal observations&nbsp;</strong></li><li><strong>catheter and cannula removal/care</strong></li><li><strong>heel pick blood sample on neonates&nbsp;</strong></li><li><strong>breastfeeding/feeding support&nbsp;</strong></li><li><strong>escorting patients to various hospitals and appointments&nbsp;</strong></li></ul><p>The list could go on and on!</p><p>I’d say my favourite part of the job is the relationships you build with the patients. When you can just give somebody that listening ear and offer that emotional support, especially postnatally at 3am when it’s needed most. It’s those little moments where you can make someone’s experience just that bit better.</p><p>Some of the main skills I have learned during my apprenticeship so far are interpersonal skills and communication skills when speaking to colleagues and patients. I have also learned technical skills within the role such as observations, taking out cannulas and catheters (very satisfying to take out), and showing empathy when working with exhausted mothers.</p><p>The traineeship I completed helped me by giving me exposure to the world of the NHS through the 6-week placement in St Michael’s Hospital, which helped me to see what was needed to be successful in this industry. I also underwent dedicated sessions to develop employability skills which helped me get the apprenticeship, as well as sessions ran by industry experts regarding health care and UHBW specifically. At the 2024 Business Awards, I won the <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/news/business-awards-celebrate-learner-and-emp…, Sport &amp; Community Partnership Award</a> - watch my video from this below!</p><p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0muha84HEeI?si=7xnh8ZuFoQz-ILXE&quot; title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> &nbsp;</p><p>My tutor (Laura Trace) provided support every step of the way, with every concern I had, and helped me believe I was able to do it. My assessor (Jenny Gamlin) provided me with experience backed advice and guidance due to her own work history in the field and her knowledge of the apprenticeship itself in preparation for my transition into the apprenticeship.</p><p>I have 16 months left of my L3 SHCSW apprenticeship. Once completed, I want to move onto a degree midwifery apprenticeship programme with the view of becoming a fully qualified midwife.</p><p>To anyone who is interested in pursuing this career, I would say there will be rough patches that are exhausting and emotionally draining (a big struggle within healthcare), so just make sure you speak up and ask for support, and you’ll come out of the other side. I would also like to give a special thanks to Gareth Brock (who I started at Weston with in innovate) who I was too scared to talk to in the beginning, but has been extremely supportive, as well as Laura Trace (TRA tutor) for listening to all of my anxiety induced ramblings, and Jenny Gamlin (my assessor) who now listens to my healthcare/NHS struggles. In other words, I wouldn’t and couldn’t have done it without them!</p>

<p>We are excited to announce our new Future Talent Business Partnership with <a href="https://rhlactivities.com/">RHL Activities Ltd</a>!</p><p><a href="https://rhlactivities.com/">RHL Activities</a> are excited to support our students at Weston College with work experience at events, covering writing, photography and media work. They will also be providing us with guest lectures from their Company Director (Gareth Hockey) and possible work experience opportunities at <a href="https://rhlactivities.com/">RHL Activities</a> covering departments that are involved in their events.</p><p>Gareth Hockey, Director of <a href="https://rhlactivities.com/">RHL Activities</a> said, <strong>“Our goal is to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the events industry - showcasing the diverse roles that contribute to successful events and equipping them with the knowledge and experience needed to launch their careers in this dynamic field.”</strong></p><p><a href="https://rhlactivities.com/">RHL Activities Ltd</a>, a multi-award-winning leader in off-road motorsport, is focusing on making the Weston Beach Race bigger than ever in recent year. The Weston Beach Race hit new heights in 2024, reaching over 2 million people across race weekend. The event has earned multiple accolades, including Sporting Event of the Year at the NOEA Awards and recognition for its impact on tourism from 2018 – 2024.</p><p>With a team of industry experts, RHL remains committed to pushing off-road motorsport forward, attending key events like in the industry and providing experiences for Students wanting to work in the events industry.</p><p>We are looking forward to working with <a href="https://rhlactivities.com/">RHL Activities</a> and providing our learners with further new opportunities!</p><p><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/FutureTalentBusinessPartner?utm_source=main-me… find out about becoming a Future Talent Business Partner of Weston College, click here</a>.</p><drupal-entity data-align="center" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="2dd412a5-6026-4ff9-bd33-1bc8909986f3" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;image_style&quot;:&quot;max_325x325&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;image_loading&quot;:{&quot;attribute&quot;:&quot;lazy&quot;}}">&nbsp;</drupal-entity>