EDUCATION
All under one roof
All smiles - Michelle Roberts ( head of facilities ), Darren Hankey ( principal and CEO ), Helen Gott ( head of fabrication and welding ) and Stuart Irvine ( chair of governors ) at Hartlepool College ’ s Centre of Excellence .
Hartlepool College showcases new centre of engineering excellence
WORDS : PAUL FRASER PICTURES : TOM BANKS
Leaders at Hartlepool College of Further Education have described the opening of a new Centre of Excellence for fabrication and welding students as “ perfect timing ”.
The new look to the college ’ s state-ofthe-art training facilities for fabrication and welding officially opened its doors with special guests from the North-East business community in attendance .
The Exeter Street annexe of Hartlepool College has been significantly improved to ensure students will no longer have to switch to the main college site for elements of training , creating more time for learning . College principal Darren Hankey said : “ We have been training welders , fabricators and platers for decades here at Hartlepool College and this is an exciting development for the whole industry .
“ There are people in those areas who have been trained by Hartlepool College working across the world and this investment allows us to keep doing this – developing talent and transforming lives .
“ This is a standalone Centre of Excellence that will benefit our employer partners .”
The college annexe offers 1,500 sq m of state-of-the-art fabrication and welding training facilities , including four workshops , 39 welding booths , a clean lab for weld testing and five classrooms .
Providing an everything-under-oneroof approach for fabrication and welding students has been welcomed by industry leaders .
SeAH Wind , Wilton Group , Strabag , Francis Brown , TATA Steel , Paralloy & FVC , Caterpillar , Darchem Engineering and Unipres were among those in attendance at the launch .
The centre has recently had a sub-arc welding machine delivered , techniques used by SeAH Wind when constructing its XXXL monopiles , so the college is now able to give these skills to learners for employment .
Wilton ’ s immersive apprenticeship programme collaborates with Hartlepool College and believes the revamped centre , benefitting from being part of £ 25m worth of funding from Hartlepool Borough Council for Hartlepool Town Deal projects , will strengthen the partnership even further .
John Price , Wilton ’ s group HR manager , said : “ It is excellent to see the college investing in such important facilities at a time when there is a huge demand for fabricators , welders and platers in the region .
“ We have worked closely with the college for many years and currently have
35 apprentices being trained by them . We are looking to take on a large cohort of apprentices again this year .
“ We are delighted with the level of training our apprentices receive from Hartlepool College and what they do complements what our staff will learn within our own training school at Wilton Group .
“ There are exciting times ahead within this sector and we are really pleased that our education partners are at the forefront of the training required in the area .”
The improvements to the Exeter Street site will also see an additional 70 students enrol from September , with 56 students currently on track to gain qualifications this academic year .
Helen Gott , the college ’ s head of fabrication and welding , said : “ We have seen a huge demand for this type of training over the last few years so it ’ s nice to see the ribbons being cut after plenty of hard work .
“ We can now crack on with providing the exceptional training that is needed for organisations across the region .
“ There is a diverse range of welding techniques that our exceptional staff , who all have a vast amount of industrial experience , will provide for learners . Some of those staff are ex apprentices and students at Hartlepool College themselves . These are things like sub-arc welding for SeAH Wind and specialist aluminium welding training for other organisations .”
Leading the way - State-of-the-art facilities have been installed .
Contact vice principal Gary Riches to discuss taking on an apprentice or upskill your workforce at Gary . Riches @ hartlepoolfe . ac . uk or check out hartlepoolfe . ac . uk
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