Posted: 17/12/24
Students and staff lend hand to Mansfield clean-up
Students and staff lend hand to Mansfield clean-up
Construction students took their skills out of the workshop and into the community as part of Mansfield’s annual ‘Day of Action’ on Tuesday (17 September).
A group of 17 level 2 plastering students, along with staff members Ruth Lee, Kelly Hammond and Jamie Higgins from the Old Brewery campus, plus principal and chief Andrew Cropley and PA Freya Stokoe, lent a hand in sprucing-up the town centre – completing tasks such as painting, weeding, cleaning, litter-picking and tidying key locations.
They formed a mass team consisting of volunteers from various organisations and businesses, plus Mansfield MP Steve Yemm and Mansfield Mayor Andy Abrahams, in making the town centre a cleaner, safer and more welcoming place for all who visit.
Organised by Mansfield BID in partnership with Mansfield District Council, Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottinghamshire Police, the Day of Action was a chance to show solidarity among businesses and work together to enhance the local environment.
Everyone who took part received a certificate of participation and the day counted towards each student’s 35-hour mandatory work experience that they must complete as part of their course.
The students’ involvement was organised by youth worker Ruth, who said: “I thought the Mansfield Day of Action was a really good opportunity for our students to give something back to their local community while helping them to gain work experience.
“Students were deployed in groups, working with teams from different organisations, and really got stuck into the tasks they were set. Halfway through the day we were given bacon cobs to re-fuel and then given our next job.
“Members of the public took a keen interest in what the students were doing and were pleased to see them making Mansfield a better place, with many saying, ‘keep up the good work’.
“The students interacted with the public very well and were excellent ambassadors for the college.
“At the end, it was clear to see how much everybody had achieved as a collective, and the improvement to the area was very noticeable.
“With the Old Brewery site being close to the town centre, it’s good that we can make a positive impact on the local community and build strong relationships with local businesses.
“Hopefully, next year even more departments across the college may choose to get involved and make this worthwhile initiative even more successful.”
Plastering student Charlie Mellor-Macpherson, 16, said: “It was a really enjoyable experience and a good thing to do, knowing I was helping out. The weeding was hard work but I actually found the painting very relaxing. I was sat singing, in my own little world, while painting the bollards! I lost count of the times a member of the public came up to me, joking ‘you’ve missed a bit!’, which was a laugh.
“I was very happy to take part and I’d be up for doing it again.”
