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The Nursery garden area at Coleg y Cymoedd’s Ystrad Mynach campus has been given a ‘Ground Force’ style make over thanks to a group of 20 learners.

The opportunity arose from a conversation between Al Lewis, Head of School for Vocational Access and Nursery Manager Gail Harries; as the project would not only benefit the young children but the learners would gain valuable work experience to help build their skills for a future career.

The group of learners from Vocational Access E3 Construction course were tasked with the project and worked with Dorian Adkins, Course Tutor to co-ordinate and plan the scheme, which would provide the children who use the nursery with an improved outdoor play area.

They have spent weeks pulling up old plants, re- painting the garden walls and painting the garden furniture in bright colours. The group also engaged the help of their colleagues in the Carpentry department to construct wooden planters.  The planters would provide the nursery children with the equipment to grow their own flowers and vegetables.

Construction learner Tyler Davies, from Blackwood, one of the learners who worked on the project said” I really enjoyed helping on the garden job and getting involved with my college friends. We used a lot of skills we had learnt on the course like painting and carpentry.  It’s good that the children in the Nursery have somewhere nice to play”.

Praising the group, Course Tutor Dorian added” I am very proud of the boys! They did an amazing job renovating the nursery garden and have really given it a new lease of life. They gained some valuable work experience along the way and almost all the learners involved managed to get themselves a place on a full time Level 1 course for September.

We have more projects lined up for next year’s learners and along with a new curriculum and brand new craft workshop, we feel we can really give learners a step up into the Construction trades”.

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Hairdressing learners studying on the Ystrad Mynach campus have been proactive in the community throughout the year, supporting a number of worthy projects. These visits have been established over the past 4 years and have proved beneficial to both the community and learners.

The Level 2 and 3 learners attended Ystrad Mynach Hospital, St David’s Hospice and St Andrew’s Church offering hairdressing and barbering services.  The service provided by the learners makes the patients feel good and also gives the learners the opportunity to gain practical skills which will prepare them for employment within the industry or for setting up their own business.

A new organisation has been identified for this year’s cohort to engage with, which based on its success will also become a regular feature in the learner’s timetable. United Welsh Residential Housing

Tutor Joanne Harris said” I’d personally like to thank the organisations involved for providing the learners with the opportunity to gain experience whilst studying at the college. It is so important that they are able to put what they learn at the college into real life practice. We look forward to working with the organisations in the new academic year.

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