Community Week is an ongoing commitment where students and staff from across the College take part in social action projects.
It is a wonderful opportunity to use the skills you have learnt and are currently learning by putting them into practice to help the local community.
Let’s take a look at some of the things that have been going on this week around the campus.
Painting and Decorating | Memorial Bench Renovation
Painting and Decorating students are working on renovating and restoring Memorial Benches from Kingsnorth Gardens in Folkestone.
These benches were created to remember those who have passed away, so the students are ensuring these can continue to be used for years and years to come.
They’ve been removing old wood, repainting and sanding so that the benches look as good as new and can be placed back in the gardens.
Level 2 Painting and Decorating student Curtis Andrews has loved being a part of this project, saying: “It’s been a great project to take part in, and it’s one of my first practical projects here as I only started in September. I’ve done similar work before but it’s good to see how this will make a positive impact.”
Beauty | Christmas Sack Donations
Beauty students have been working hard this week on their annual Christmas Sack Collection, where much needed goods, gifts and products are donated to those in need.
These will make a huge difference to local communities this Christmas and helped develop the student’s teamwork and project management skills.
Carpentry and Joinery | Bat Box Building – Kent Bat Group
Carpentry, and Bench Joinery students have been busy crafting bat boxes as part of a collaboration with the Kent Bat Group. These boxes will soon be put to use in local woodlands, with the hope of providing safe spaces for various bat species.
John Puckett from the Kent Bat Group expressed his gratitude, noting that the boxes are a valuable resource for monitoring bat populations, particularly species like the Common Pipistrelle and Brown Long-eared bats. The boxes will be installed in appropriate woodlands, as well as adapted WW2 bunkers that Puckett has repurposed for bat habitats.
The Kent Bat Group has seen success in using similar bat boxes in sites like Oare Gunpowder Works and Vinters Park, and they are eager to assess the impact of these new boxes.
John Puckett has requested that students could in future create a slightly adjusted version of the Kent box with specific measurements, to be used in underground sites for further bat conservation work.
Onsite Construction and Painting and Decorating | Christmas Grotto Building
T Level Onsite Construction and Carpentry students, including Alex, Alfie, Oscar, Ethan, Blayk, and Cole are starting work on transforming the Construction Building into a full Santa’s Grotto.
This week, they’re creating the entrance, which is made out of wood that they’ve been sawing, hammering and crafting into various shapes and sizes.
The Grotto is being created in time for the College’s ‘Big Christmas Light Switch On’, an event on Thursday 28th for the whole community to come along and have an evening of christmas fun, with arts and crafts stalls, food and drink and more.
Painting and Decorating also are involved, as they’ve been painting the doors which will lead into Santa’s Grotto on the night.
It has been great to see so many projects happening this Community Week, with some to develop further over the coming weeks and months.
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