A Bristol further education college has been recognised for its efforts to boost opportunities in one of the most deprived areas of the city after investing more than £9m in a huge new construction skills centre.
The City of Bristol College, which employs around 800 staff, was presented with the Levelling Up Award for its new Advanced Construction Skills Centre (ACSC), which is due to open in September.
The College was nominated by Bristol South MP Karin Smyth for the Infrastructure For Opportunity goal.
The centre is being part-funded by the West of England Combined Authority (£6m) and is being built by construction firm Midas.
Once finished, it will include an outside civils yard and workshops for carpentry, bricklaying, electrical and wet trades.
According to deputy principal and chief executive Richard Harris, the ACSC will offer more opportunities for people in the local area and will develop the talent the construction sector requires to continue to grow.
“We have been able to continue the build throughout the pandemic and the work is all on time,” he said. “We are confident of the benefits and that it will be a great success.
“City of Bristol College is dedicated to investing in Bristol as we emerge from coronavirus and get the local economy going again.”
The award comes as the City of Bristol College continues to make “huge improvements”, says Mr Harris, who admits that just six years ago the college was “in a pretty bad place”.
“We had a number of financial problems [back then]. Firstly, we worked to fix those. It's only in the past couple of years that we have taken our eye off internal improvements and have started looking outward and engaging with the city.”
According to Mr Harris, the adult education provider has always had “a lot of goodwill” from business but it is now aiming to engage with more SMEs in the city after what he described as a “challenging” year.
“It's been a huge challenge the last 12 months. Back in March last year we started to make provision for moving everything online.
“We were starting from a low base - we didn't deliver online as a matter of course. But that was really successful. We fully reopened in March this year and we are still operating online.”
Mr Harris said the college now had the largest range of courses in the South West, with a particularly big focus on apprenticeships.
The adult education provider can take up to 1,000 apprentices - there are currently 800 on the books - and it is seeing a growing demand for skills in construction, social care and engineering.
Amid the pandemic last year, Mr Harris said the college worked “closely” to help students, including apprentices, who needed practical face-to-face sessions in order to complete their studies.
“When we had those breaks in lockdown we targeted the specific groups who needed practical provision - in a safe and managed environment,” he explained. "By and large most of them are on course as there is also an element of theory."
Looking to the future, Mr Harris said the City of Bristol College wanted to become the "training partner of choice" for businesses across the city region.
It is already Weca’s largest provider of adult education and has links with some of Bristol's biggest employers including Airbus and television studio The Bottle Yard.
“We partner with a huge number of SMEs, including companies in the supply chain for giants such as Airbus," he said.
“We can become a training provider of choice by demonstrating our competence and skills as a delivery organisation through practical application.”
He added: “I believe having a coherent mission will drive the college forward. And [everyone who works here] is signed up to that.”
The Bristol and Bath Apprenticeship Awards will take place on Wednesday, November 24, 2021. To enter or to nominate someone, visit www.bbapprenticeshipawards.co.uk
