Portland College Annual Awards Day Celebrates Success

On Wednesday, @PortlandCollege held their annual Awards Day, a day of celebration of the last academic year and the achievements that learners and citizens have made.

This year, it was obviously very different and the 16 awards were split into 3 separate ceremonies in order to keep everyone safe.

Portland was honoured to welcome guest speaker Richard Whitehead MBE, Double Paralympic 200m Gold Medallist, who delivered an inspirational video message to learners and citizens.

A huge thank you also goes to Presentation Design Services who volunteered their time and equipment to support the event despite these troubling times, and made it a fantastic day to remember.

Presentation Design Services’ Managing Director, Gavin Ling comments; “Presentation Design Services have been producing Portland’s award ceremony for 18 years.  When Portland’s budgets were cut in 2015, we decided that as part of our corporate giving we would continue to work on the event completely free of charge.  We’ve been supporting the Awards Ceremony with full technical production ever since and despite the world being turned upside down, there was no reason why this year should be any different.

“Portland is an amazing place full of incredible people – learners, teachers and support staff.  It’s a beautiful campus and an inspiring place to be.  It’s an absolute pleasure for us to be able to support the College in this way and long may it continue.”

Congratulations to all the award winners, including those who couldn’t make their ceremony for varying reasons; Employer of the Year; Lindhurst Engineering, Adult Learner of the Year; Daksha Martin, and Further Education Learner of the Year; Ryan McDade who actually featured in his ceremony thanks to a pre-recorded video link!

• Performing Arts – Jessica Fisher
• Sports Person of the Year – Rachel Tweedie
• Independent Travel – Lydia Scorah
• Communication – James Kesteven
• Learner/Citizen Voice – Dominic Martin
• Outstanding Customer Service – Nathan Preston
• Enterprise – Darian Mellors
• Contribution to the Local Community – Paul Laking
• Contribution to Portland – Amy-Jayne Cassell
• Employability – Amber Lewin
• Employer of the Year – Lindhurst Engineering
• Distance Learning Achievement – Tyler Daniels
• Independent Living Citizen of the Year – Jordan Godber
• Portland Freedom Citizen of the Year – Connor Stelling
• Adult Learner of the Year – Daksha Martin
• Further Education Learner of the Year – Ryan McDade

Congratulations to you all!

Mark Dale, Principal and CEO commented,

“We are exceptionally proud of all our learners and citizens.  With the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown this year has been especially challenging for everyone, but the way our young people have adapted and embraced the changes has been truly remarkable.  The awards ceremonies have been a wonderful way to recognise and celebrate their hard work and achievements over the last academic year. We wish everyone who is leaving Portland this summer the very best for their futures, and we look forward to welcoming returning learners back in September for another fantastic year.”

Due to current social distancing measures, the events were shown live on Facebook so that people could attend virtually and join in the celebrations, you can watch the events on the college Facebook page.