Students on Swale College’s Business and IT & Design courses have been working with the SDPT team on two projects as part of their BTEC National Foundation Diplomas in Business, Finance and Marketing and Computing.
SDPT were keen to work with local young people in the development phase of The Dockyard Church restoration and as we move towards the reopening of the building in Autumn 2022. The project team were aware just how important it was to offer young people the chance to share their views and take ownership of future opportunities. Mindful that the success of the new Business Enterprise Centre rests on its appeal to young people and that achieving genuine opinions of potential end users is key.
We were particularly keen to get their views on how to most effectively implement a targeted social media campaign, as well as gain their input into the interior fit out.
Five teams of Business students were challenged to devise social media campaigns to help SDPT engage future young users of our new Business Enterprise Centre across a range of platforms and encouraging them to consider the new facility as a space for their new businesses and as a destination for getting support with ideas for start-ups. The student response was outstanding and has provided the project with a unique bespoke approach to engaging local young people.
Meanwhile, Desig
n students have been busy creating a range of infographic visuals for the project that communicate the impressive statistics and facts about the building and its restoration process which have been designed to capture the complexity and scale of the project in fun and informative way.
Business student Ethan Stocker visited the site, and met the Director of the South East National Lottery Heritage Fund and the project architectural team. Ethan is seen here on the left with project architect Robert Songhurst from Hugh Broughton Architects & Trust Director Will Palin
Did you know…
- The project is using over 10,000ft of scaffold boards, (that’s more than double the length of the Swale Crossing bridge) weighing 14.6 tonne.
- They are supported by 2.27miles (12,000ft) of scaffold tubes, weighing in at 15.7 tonne
- The scaffolding cannot be fixed into the historic structure, so it is all held down by 48 tonnes of water containers
- This project will deliver over 750m² of floorspace
“The students are very excited by the project and feel it will give them a real sense of working on a live construction site. The partnership has also given us excellent opportunities for apprenticeships through the partnership with Coniston. As the project progresses, we are looking forward to the opportunities of students engaging in more and more industry related experiences”.
Alan Salter Principal of Swale College
Visit www.sdpt.org.uk to find out more about local learning opportunities.