Students at Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group (NSCG) honour Remembrance Day

Hundreds of staff and students from Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group (NSCG) have this week contributed to activities and events to mark the anniversary of the end of the First World War.

Students and staff across both campuses turned out in force and were joined by military veterans and current serving personnel to take part in services to mark Armistice Day on Friday 11 November to honour those who have served in the line of duty.

In Stafford, Performing Arts students from year 1 and 2 serenaded the crowd with a moving performance of The Rose whilst A Level student Beckie Jones recited Laurence Binyon’s powerful poem For the Fallen.

Level 3 Advanced Manufacturing student and Senior Cadet Bugler in the Staffordshire and West Midlands Army Cadet Force of Drums, Benjamin Shermer, marked the beginning of the two minute silence with a powerful rendition of The Last Post on the Bugle. Molly Ainsworth, another of our talented A Level students and Grade 5 trumpet player, then marked the finale of the reflective silence with a rousing rendition of The Revieille.

At Newcastle College, Air Cadet and Level 3 Acting student Matthew Shirley introduced the service which was held in the Atrium and saw audiences gathering on the balcony areas of the first and second floors to catch a glimpse of the Year 2 Musical Theatre students’ performance of Enya’s Evacuee.

As Army Cadet and Level 3 Graphic Design student Kaitlyn Pearce recited For the Fallen, UPS students released a shower of red paper confetti from the first floor landing creating a visual spectacle and poignant reminder of the blood shed all those years ago.

To mark the beginning of the two minute silence, Grade 5 trumpeter and Level 3 Music Performance student Reuben Greenaway played the Last Post as those present bowed their heads in remembrance before the sounding of The Reveille was played to mark its conclusion.

Both services across our campuses ended with a wreath laying ceremony. In Stafford, NSCG staff, students and service people made their way to the Staffordshire County War Memorial in Victoria Park and in Newcastle, Level 3 Sports students, Police Cadet Mary Roberts and RAF Cadet Beth Brant were chosen to salute the wreath before Public Services students took it and led a procession to the Cenotaph on the High Street.

Todd Bailey, Curriculum Manager for Sport and Public Services at Newcastle College said: “The College’s annual Remembrance service is a great way for the college community to get together and remember and honour those who have sacrificed their lives to secure and protect our freedom.

“It’s poignant to see our Public Service students treat the event with the utmost respect as they encourage people to remember those who have given their lives in wars and conflicts, past and present.”

People across the country gathered at war memorials, churches and community centres to honour the fallen and to commemorate the day when the allies signed a ceasefire agreement with Germany at Compiégne, France, at 11am on November 11, 1918, bringing the war now known as World War I to a close.