Barnsley College student prepares to travel to Iceland

Barnsley College student, Isabelle Goddard, is preparing to travel to Iceland to further her skills within the agricultural industry with the support of College’s Enterprising Futures Fund (BCEF), a fund that provides grants to students to pay for once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

The grant, totalling over £300, will enable Isabelle to visit a farm in Ólafsfjörður, a small fishing village located in the north of Iceland in conjunction with Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF). WWOOF is a worldwide effort to link visitors with organic farmers, promote educational exchange and build a global community conscious of ecological farming practices. Users of WWOOF spend time on farms and share daily life with the hosts.

During her time at the farm, Isabelle hopes to support farmers’ goals to plant an entire forest within the next five years and hopes that this experience will help her to widen her knowledge and skills in arable fields to be able to flourish in the industry and access the Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) project again in the future

Isabelle, who studies Applied Science, said:

“This experience should help with my future as I plan to go into agriculture and study the subject at university. This visit will enable me to expand my knowledge into arable fields, which will help me a lot, as up to this point my experience has been mostly animal-based.

“I found out about BCEF at a workshop during Careers Week at College and would recommend it to anyone. I have already told my friends about it!”

The College’s BCEF programme is run by the Enterprise department which encourages and supports students to develop their entrepreneurial skills and talents outside of their studies. The department offers opportunities for students to improve their communication, teamwork, problem solving and creativity skills and provides support to those who are setting up a business.

Lee Perks, Enterprise Team Leader at Barnsley College, said:

“Barnsley College is committed to transforming the lives of students, staff and communities and we are thrilled to be able to support Isabelle on her trip to Iceland. Her future is looking bright and with the new skills and knowledge she will gain as part of her trip, I am sure she will go on to be very successful within the agricultural industry.”

For more information about Enterprise at Barnsley College visit www.barnsley.ac.uk/enterprise