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In this month’s news:

Upcoming events:

CentralBedsStudentwinsfirstatAHTNationalFinals 3

MotorVehiclestudentorganisesbikerstributetoWoottonBassett 4

NewsfromChilternBusinessTraining 5

City&GuildsMedalofExcellence+HeroesoftheYear2010 6

CreativeArtsstudentwinsBronze 7

BrightLearningSolutionsAwardsEvening 8

FashionShow2010 9

Mediastudents’firstgigsellsout! 10

CollegeTriathlontoraisemoneyforCHUMscharity 11

AdultLearnersWeek2010 12

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Central Beds Student wins first at AHT National Finals Hollie Palmer, Level 3 Hairdressing student at Central Bedfordshire College, has been awarded first place in the “Ladies Commercial Cut and Blow Dry” category at the high profile finals of the Association of Hairdressers and Therapists (AHT) National UK Trainee Competition.

This award is the culmination of many months of hard work by the students and staff, with the competition team forming and putting in extra hours for five months to ensure success. The competition started with the South Regional finals at Bexley College in February. During this heat, ten students studying Hairdressing and Theatrical Makeup at Central Bedfordshire College were chosen to go to the national finals.

The event took place at The Blackpool Winter Gardens Hair Festival. The festival attracts more than 600 competitors and up to 6000 visitors each year and Hollie was rewarded for her win with £100 prize money and a medal and Certificate showing her success. Curriculum Manger for Hairdressing, Lindsey White commented, “Hollie really deserves her award. She has worked hard over the last few months and deserves the success that this has brought.”.

Gary Lee, Head of Department at Central Beds, was very proud of all of his teams; “Last year was our first year and we had two students go through to the nationals. The target this year was five and we were delighted to deliver an outstanding ten places. I am so pleased for Hollie’s success at the prestigious final and that Central Beds is on the national competition stage as a winner where it belongs!”.

Some of the students in the competition team will be finishing their studies in the summer, with some already having found work; in their hometowns of Luton, Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard and the surrounding villages; while others are choosing to continue to study to gain more skills.

Central Bedfordshire College Regional Winners list:

Ladies Cut & Blow Dry1st - Hollie Palmer2nd - Samantha Playforth3rd - Faye Francis

Mens Cut & Blow Dry1st - Zoe Roberts2nd - Christine Begley3rd - Aaron Fuller

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Central Bedfordshire College National Winner:

Ladies Commercial Cut & Blow Dry1st – Hollie Palmer

Catwalk 1st - Stacey Thomas

Face & Body Painting2nd – Ria Boak

Ladies Evening Style2nd - Sarah-Jane Wearmouth

Motor Vehicle student organises bikers tribute to Wootton Bassett An estimated 15,000 bikers and pillion passengers congregated at Hullavington Airfield in Wiltshire on Sunday 14 March to honour the people of the Wiltshire town and the soldiers killed in Afghanistan. The Bike Run was the idea of 18-year-old biker Elizabeth Stevens who studies on the Motor Vehicle course at Central Beds College. Elizabeth, pictured with her partner, had only planned to ride through the town with a few friends. “Our local bike club was throwing around the idea of a bike run,” she said in January, “so I decided to make a Facebook page, and it’s just taken off”. Laurence Phillips from Afghan Heroes said the event had gathered pace after being posted on the social networking site Facebook.

The thousands of bikers rode through Wootton Bassett with each rider paying £5 to take part and the proceeds going to the charity Afghan Heroes. The first batch of 500 riders left at 1100 GMT to ride to Wootton Basset via the M4 motorway. The event lasted until early evening, with bikers leaving the airfield at 30-minute intervals to make their way to Wootton Bassett.

Crowds gathered along Wootton Bassett’s High Street to watch the bikers pass the war memorial. The town’s mayor Steve Bucknell said the “vast majority” of the people in the town “fully support” what the bikers are doing. “Too many times the town has had to stand still in silence but today is all about noise and movement.”

Sue Sullivan, from Gloucestershire, took part in the event said: “We rode at 1130 GMT and I’ve never seen so many bikes. I’m one of thousands of people who support our girls and boys.”

Denise Harris, the founder of Afghan Heroes, said troops on the front line had sent her e-mails backing the event. “It boosts morale for them; I mean they just are so grateful to the general public for their support and their kindness.”

Elizabeth’s tutor, David Shoubridge, was extremely impressed with how well the event went for her, “I was thrilled to see the story featured on the BBC News website as such a big national story. Elizabeth did a great job organising the event and gaining so much support for such a worthy cause. We are very proud of her.”

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News from Chiltern Business Training Chiltern Business Training E-News Launches!

Chiltern Business Training is embarking on the launch of a new e-newsletter which will be sent to contacts in various companies and partner agencies. New Employer Engagement Officer, Matthew Vowles, has put the wheels in motion for the project in order to communicate more effectively with our Employer contacts.

The e-newsletter, titled Business News, and designed by Laura Stockley, is short & concise, providing employers with key facts, figures and relevant updates. It aims to encourage employers to view the College as the expert on various issues and build a relationship of trust.

If you feel you have any relevant information or courses from your area that could be included in Business News please send your ideas to either Matthew Vowles or Laura Stockley in Marketing.

Employer Open Day Success

Another project devised by Matthew Vowles - an employer open day - has proven to be a great success. The open day, designed to attract both employers and job seekers to fill vacancies is the first of many to help get young people back into work.

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City & Guilds Medal of Excellence Teresa Lochead, a spa tutor at the College, has been awarded a “City & Guilds Medal for Excellence” for outstanding performance in the Education and Training sector. The awards recognise high standards of teaching and training and Teresa received a medal and certificate at a formal presentation on 12 March 2010. Well done Teresa!

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Heroes of the Year 2010 In the coming weeks we will be inviting you to nominate your heroes of the year. Start thinking about your nominations - further details will be announced shortly. Congratulations again to Deborah Thompson, Beauty Curriculum Manager, who was our worthy 2009 winner.

Creative Arts student wins Bronze Richard Zhuk, graduate from the BA Honours Graphic Design at Central Bedfordshire College, was recently awarded with a Bronze Award for his story board entry.

Whilst on a work placement with Grey, a Design Agency based in London, Richard came across the brief set by’ Idea Bounty’. Snack brand ‘Peperami’ were looking for a new print and TV ad that was an unapologetic, unexpected and incredibly memorable piece of communication.

The brief attracted over 2000 entries, and Richard’s story board concept was highly commended and awarded Bronze. “I didn’t win but I did get some kind of recognition, which is always great in the design world. Plus, the more brands for your portfolio the better!”

After studying for a National Diploma, Foundation Degree and a BA (Hons) Degree, Richard’s time at Central Bedfordshire College has proven to be invaluable, giving him the knowledge he needed to progress after graduation.

Now working for leading advertising and communications agency in London, Publicis, he puts his success down to his determination, “The industry is a very competitive place but if you have the right attitude you will succeed.”

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Bright Learning Solutions Awards Evening Bright Learning Solutions, Dunstable, held a special ‘Achievers Evening’ on Wednesday 24 February celebrating the success of its learners from the past 18 months, and one lucky guest had the opportunity to win a brand new laptop!

The learning centre gave attendees the opportunity to win a Laptop, equipped with Windows 7 and the full Microsoft Office 2007 package, in a special prize draw held at the end of the evening. Pete Burton, Director of Bright Solutions hoped that “the prize will help the lucky winner put to use their newly gained knowledge and expertise.”

Peter Wilson was the lucky winner of the new, shiny red, Dell Laptop. He was thrilled to win and commented, “It was a pleasant surprise to win and a great end to a great evening. We’ve really enjoyed catching up with old faces from the course and this just topped it off. Our son lives in Brisbane, Australia, so now we will be able to keep in touch with him on Skype! It’s well appreciated and we’re delighted, he will be really pleased for us too. Thank you.”

All learners that attended the evening have achieved the ITQ, a Level 2 IT Users qualification, now recognised by employers universally as proof of IT competency and certificated by the awarding body OCR. More than 200 learners achieved this qualification over the period and there was a great turnout of around 60 of them in attendance to receive their recognition.

Chris Vesey, along with other members of the College Management Team, attended to carry out the presentations.

Bright Learning Solutions plan to make the evening an annual event and encourage all of its learners to complete their courses with the opportunity of winning themselves a fantastic prize.

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Fashion Show 2010 On Wednesday 21 March the Department of Creative Arts hosted their second annual Fashion Show and opened their doors to showcase the abundance of creative talent housed within the College.

Twenty-five students designed items for the show representing various courses from further education through to higher education: First Diploma Art and Design, National Diploma Art and Design, Foundation Studies in Art and Design and the Foundation Degree in Fashion & Surface Pattern.

One lucky Year 11 student from All Saints Academy, Dunstable, also had the opportunity to take part alongside the College students. Sally East modelled her Gothic style prom dress on the catwalk and was delighted to be involved.

Students from other courses also got stuck in to support the show; Media students took care of the sound, lighting and filming of the event, Photography captured the images, Graphic Design students created the posters and programmes and Performing Arts students performed some amazing routines between each of the collections. The models for the show were also students.

This year the show was based around the themes of White and Light, Memories, Deconstruct and Reconstruct, Cultural Adornment and Elements. The students worked towards the show for a total of six weeks and the finished effect was a credit to all of their hard work and commitment.

The Department of Creative Arts will be holding their annual summer exhibition in June where the work from the show will be available to view.

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Media students’ first gig sells out! Chrome Red Music, a local Promotions Company set up by young fans, hosted their first ever gig on February 28, and were delighted with the turnout and atmosphere of the event. The show, held at the Four Kings in Dunstable, was a sell out with all 120 tickets being sold.

After attending so many local shows themselves the Chrome Red crew, consisting of one the new campaign Heroes James Hodge, aged 17, Martin Farrar, 18 – both Media students at Central Bedfordshire College, along with Mark Pilborough-Skinner, 17 and Lewis Dennison, 17, both from Manshead Upper School, decided to set up the promotions company to bring the music they love to their town. Ben Pearson, also a Media student from Central Beds College, was the sound engineer for the night.

The venue for the show was packed and the night ran smoothly with everyone having a good time. The artists who performed commented on how professional and organised the young promoters were and were impressed with the number of people in attendance. Daniel Lillie, lead singer of headline act, In Remission, commented, “Congratulations on putting on a slick, well attended, and above all, awesome show last night. Really good stuff for a debut night, you’re going to be the go to guys for promos in Luton/Dunstable if you keep it up! Well done!”

Chrome Red Music’s events will be aimed at a younger audience, allowing them to captivate on the feeling that they themselves had, that there is not enough for young people to do locally. Coming from local schools and Central Bedfordshire College, they not only have direct access to the fans, but they can also relate to them. An added bonus is the support they have, particularly from the Media Department at the college.

Jonathan Vianello, tutor from the Media Department at Central Beds went along to show his support and was proud of what his students had achieved, “The event was a huge credit to all of the hard work that the boys put into organising and promoting it. It ties in really well with the work that they do within the course and is a great experience, as well as helping them to build up contacts within the industry. The Media department is a strong believer of students carrying out work outside of their course and we always show complete support of their ideas”.

Chrome Red plan to host local events every six weeks and promise to deliver the same buzz that was felt from last night.

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College Triathlon to raise money for CHUMs charity A group of sports students at the Houghton Regis Campus are organising a charity event to raise funds for CHUMS charity.

The event is a triathlon starting at the Houghton Regis Campus and culminating at the Dunstable Leisure Centre. The event begins with a 20 minute swim at the Houghton Regis Leisure Centre. Once each participant finishes their swim they then get changed and either run or walk the 2.5 miles, to Dunstable Leisure Centre. Here they will be using the cycle machines to cycle for 2 miles before the event is complete.

Each participant will be trying to gain as many sponsors as possible for the event. The participants who raise the most amount of money for the charity will be receiving prizes such as a signed Luton Town FC shirt, and all of the money raised from the event will be donated to the CHUMS charity.

CHUMS support bereaved children and families in Bedfordshire following the death of someone special in their lives. The core of the work is carried out by a team of volunteers who come from all parts of the county who are all trained by the charity in loss and grief and how best to support bereaved children and their families. The event takes place on the 12th May 2010 starting at 10am at Houghton Regis Leisure Centre and finishing at 2pm at Dunstable Leisure Centre.

We would like to invite as many people as possible from the College to take part in the event for this great cause and hope that everyone can raise as much money as possible for the charity to help people who have lost loved ones gain support to help them through such difficult times.

To take part in this charity triathlon all you have to do is contact Colin Sharpe to receive your sponsorship form and begin raising money for CHUMS. You can visit Central Bedfordshire College at the Houghton Regis Campus or email Colin at csharpe@centralbeds.com for more information on the event.

College representative David O’Brien said “I would like to thank all of the participants and sponsors on behalf of CHUMS charity and urge others to help raise funds for a good cause. All of the donations made are very much appreciated and we really hope you have a good day and enjoy the event.”

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Adult Learners Week 2010 Adult Learners Week is a national campaign run by NIACE to encourage adults back into learning. It is coordinated locally by The Learning Partnership Bedfordshire & Luton.

Every year providers in the local area put together a program of activities to celebrate Adult Learning. Last year the event was very successful and highly publicised. It ran in conjunction with The Big Skill, sponsored by the BBC, and was focused around one day of activities in Bedford.

This year, Bedfordshire & Luton are focusing on two main day events, one in Bedford Town Centre on Thursday 20 May and one in Luton Town Centre on Friday 21 May 2010. Four departments from the College will be supporting the Marketing Team by showcasing their skills at the Luton event on Friday 21 May. The aim of the events is to take the learning opportunities out into the community to communicate with adults and make them aware of what is available to them locally.

Adult Learners Week is about breaking down barriers to learning and the local providers, including The Learning Partnership, Central Bedfordshire College, Barnfield College, Bedford College, Adult & Community Learning and many more, are keen to collaborate in an effort to get even more adults back into learning.

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