Shuttleworth wins and Bedford College shares the
limelight
The East of England show proved a valuable showcase for
students training at Bedford and Shuttleworth Colleges.
The show is traditionally an Agricultural and Country
show so students and staff from Shuttleworth College are
regular visitors. The show is a perfect venue for National
competitions. The show not just about livestock and
horses but also includes exhibits and competitions
for horticulture, floristry, landscape
gardening, arboriculture and game keeping.
Shuttleworth College covers a wide range of land based and
animal science courses and students are able to benefit from the
excellent job opportunities in these areas. In fact there are
no shortage of jobs in agriculture, in fact the industry is short
of 80,000 skilled workers.
Shuttleworth students showed their talents by taking prizes in
a variety of classes at the East of England Show.
Top with gold was William Colebrook (pictured above) who
created a “star garden”. His fellow horticulture students Jack
Sharpe, Sam Gibbs, Nick Bitten and Adam Knibbs also exhibited and
achieved silver and bronze awards. William, aged 18 and lives in
Gamlingay has completed his National Diploma in Horticulture and is
setting up business as a self-employed landscaper.
Floristry student Gemma Dennis (pictured
left), aged 17, won the Smalley Challenge Cup in the Round and
Round the Garden design category. A full time student at
Shuttleworth. Gemma is going on to take her Level 3 Diploma in
floristry next year. She has a part time job at Cottage Garden
Florists in Kempston - the town where she lives.
Assistant Director Bronwen Bray said: “This was a good result
for all our students who took part at the show. Shuttleworth
College has a national and regional reputation and the East of
England Show is a good place to remind people what a great place
this is to study.”
Meanwhile their new friends at Bedford College decided to join
the show too - a first and interesting experience. Schools and
Community Liaison Manager Ellen Punter co-ordinated the activity
together with colleagues from both campuses.
“Many people at this show were familiar with Shuttleworth
College because of its top class reputation among farming and rural
industries and employers. Fewer had heard of Bedford College or
understand the wide range of complementary courses which are
offered there,” she said.
Catering and Construction training teams from the Outstanding
Ofsted Bedford campus joined the event.
Head of Hospitality Raj Mandal and his Hot Squad of students
talked to people at the show about how catering can support rural
industries such as tourism and specialist retail by enabling people
to cook for visitors or prepare food for farmers markets.
Construction specialists explained how on-going building and
maintenance work on large estates and properties can be aided by
modern training techniques.