Learning brought to life for Future Skills Centre students

Construction students from the Future Skills Centre (FSC) in Bordon recently had the chance to see the regeneration of Whitehill and Bordon up close, after being invited for a private walking tour of the project, courtesy of the Whitehill and Bordon Regeneration Company (WBRC).

Staff and students from the FSC, which is part of Basingstoke College of Technology (BCoT), visited a number of areas across the regeneration project including the site of the brand new £10 million leisure centre, and received a guided tour of the Duke’s Quarter housing development by Taylor Wimpey.

The students, currently studying carpentry and joinery courses at the FSC, and their tutors were also given the opportunity to put some of their course-based learning to the test. 

Lucy Robinson (WBRC), who welcomed the students with a presentation about the Whitehill and Bordon Regeneration, said: “The students were a credit to the college. As a former BCoT student, working with the FSC and supporting students to shape their community and raise their aspirations is most certainly an area of development I am passionate about.”

The students then visited the construction site of the new Bordon leisure centre with Metnor Construction, before getting the chance to see the different stages of building a house at Taylor Wimpey’s Duke’s Quarter development.

Whilst visiting the Duke’s Quarter development, the students also had the opportunity to see fellow-FSC students working on-site as part of their bricklaying apprenticeships with Taylor Wimpey.

Steve Gilder, Centre Manager of the FSC, said: “Most of our students are from Bordon and the surrounding area, and the chance for them to visit the regeneration project has shown them the level of opportunity available to them right on their doorstep within the construction industry.”

“This is the third time we have visited the Whitehill and Bordon Regeneration and each time it really shows the students how the work they are doing at the FSC is really relative to what they will be doing onsite.”

“We have a fantastic relationship with the WBRC, Taylor Wimpey and Metnor, and I would like to state how grateful I am that they were able give our students this incredible experience”.

The FSC in Bordon, built by Hampshire County Council and substantially funded by the Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), opened in September 2017 and provides a comprehensive range of vocational training courses in the construction sector, including apprenticeships which reflects the skills needed in the area.