Fire Service links with 18,000 students in Bedford

Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service supported the Bedford College Achievements Evening by sponsoring the Sport & Public Services awards category.

BLFRS has close links with the College and its students who are a gateway to the wider and diverse community of Bedfordshire.

On 25th November, a packed Bedford Corn Exchange heard how its student successes are in the top 5 % in the country.

Soon after achieving its Outstanding Ofsted status, Bedford took over Shuttleworth College in Central Beds. That merger has become a model for how to integrate twvery different colleges and improve the standards and services of both.

The College has secured £2 Million to redevelop the workshop block on the Cauldwell Street campus, its new BROOKS hair and and beauty opened on the High Street and The Mansion House at Shuttleworth was relaunched as a quality conference and weddings venue.

Bedford College has won the right to use the Olympic logo - which was particularly apt as the Outstanding Student of the Year was 2012 hopeful sprinter Deji Tobias, who is the fastest under 20 year old in the UK. Deji is taking a BTEC National Diploma in Sports Development, Coaching and Fitness.

School links

Together with the Bedford Charity, Bedford College is one of the sponsors of the Bedford Academy which is one of the few secondary schools in the UK to be awarded millions of pounds for a new building project. More than 900 pupils from upper schools attend vocational courses at the College.

Business boost

Working closely with local employers to help ensure students have the right skills for employment is key to the contribution the College makes to the local economy. “We are an engine for growth for the local economy,” said Principal and Chief Executive Ian Pryce, “We want Bedford College to be a badge of honour on the CVs of students when they apply for employment.”

The support by local businesses, hundreds of whom work with the College, was demonstrated by the commercial sponsorship of the prizes at the Achievements Ceremony.