A teacher who trained around 80 percent of staff working at a local engineering company has signed a deal with a monetary value of around £20,000 with the firm where his former learners now work.
Simon Mullan from Suffolk New College now receives steel and other metals throughout the year from Datum Fabrications in Manningtree.
Current students who are on welding courses at the educational facility (Suffolk New College) then use these materials.
In addition to this, owners of Datum are keen to give work experience opportunities to students based at the Ipswich College.
They are also looking to take on current students as full time employees and will host competitions and hand out prizes to learners later in the year.
Chris Fussell is the managing director of Datum Fabrications. He said:
“One of our other directors (Darren Brooks) is a former student of Simon’s – as are a huge majority of our staff.
“Therefore collectively, we wanted to set up a project with a local college where we support them by giving away materials. Simon then uses our facilities to prepare the metal for classes and through this donation we are able to support the students with their learning.”
James Pilbeam is the workshop manager at Datum Fabrications. He said:
“Long term we are looking to build greater links with the Suffolk New College. It makes sense for us to work with them as it can help us recruit new talent in the future.”
Simon who is also a boxing referee in his spare time – is delighted that this deal packs a punch. He said:
“There is a shortage of welders in the country and there is a real focus on training them at the moment. Therefore, this link up with Datum works both for our industry partne and the students. In the long term, the hope is that some of our students impress during their work experience opportunities and are eventually taken on, either as an apprentice or an employee. As a college, the course wouldn’t be the same without this partnership therefore we are incredibly grateful to Datum Fabrications for their generous support.”