‘New year, new you’ and opportunities for all

I would like to begin my first column of 2020 by wishing you a happy new year, and I hope that you had a wonderful festive break.

Here at Nelson and Colne College, we have a flying start to the new year. This week, we held a series of adult advice events promoting our fantastic Higher Education offer and new Professional Skills courses for anyone looking to improve their professional credentials in 2020. We also highlighted our brilliant range of leisure and wellbeing courses delivered by our wonderful Lancashire Adult Learning team.

It may be a bit of a cliché, but the new year is always an opportunity for a ‘new you’, and it really is never too late to learn. Taking Higher Education qualifications as an example, they truly can be transformational for career prospects and improving lives. As a Further Education College we are able to support our community to develop their skills and qualifications at all levels, even to degree level, with courses to suit everybody starting in January and February.

For those who were not able to make the advice events, I would encourage you to contact our teams at Nelson and Colne College to find out more about our Higher Education and Professional Skills qualifications, and at Lancashire Adult Learning, who will be happy to share details of leisure and wellbeing courses. You can also find out more by visiting www.nelson.ac.uk or www.lal.ac.uk.

Turning attention back to supporting our community, our continued support for local employers will be highlighted at our Engineering Apprenticeship Event on Thursday 16 January, from 5pm until 7pm, aimed at College leavers, school leavers and parents. It is the perfect chance to find out everything you need to know about Engineering Apprenticeships, volunteering and work placement opportunities.

Some of our key employer partners and their Apprentices will be on hand to talk to for valuable insight into careers in the sector, and these include Pendle Engineering, Saco, Bright Engineering, Protec Fire Detection and Fort Vale. There will be the opportunity to apply for live Apprenticeship vacancies on the night too.

As a Director at the Lancashire Local Enterprise Partnership, and as Chair of the Lancashire LEP Skills Advisory Panel, I understand the skills demands of our regional engineering sector, the opportunities it presents, and its value to the economy, particularly here in Pendle and East Lancashire.

Before I sign off, National Apprenticeship Week takes place this year from Monday 3 February. We will once again be celebrating the value of Apprenticeships with our Apprenticeships and Careers Expo at College on Wednesday 5 February – a date for the diary.

Until next month, Amanda.