Canford in the
COMMUNITY
By John Slider, Canford Community Ambassador
I think it’s fair to say that the pandemic has affected all of our lives and daily activities and none more so than in the field of education. It may well be some considerable time before the true effects on the wellbeing of our children’s education is known. In my role as Canford’s “Community Ambassador” I have witnessed first-hand the challenges faced by our schools and educational establishments and have been astounded by their resilience in continuing to deliver lessons both in class and remotely. You may know that in previous years Canford participated in a number of activities with the Engineering Development Trust (EDT) which is a dedicated nationwide charity that delivers a number of key programs designed to enhance students understanding of industry. One such program was the Go4SET which partnered Canford with local schools such as Biddick Academy, St Roberts of Newminster, Seatonburn College and Monkseaton Academy to name but a few. The programs involved pupils from each school in some form of engineering project where Canford acted as their adviser and mentor. This involved visiting the schools on a weekly basis to meet with the students and their teacher and to monitor the progress of the project. During each project the students were invited to spend a day in Canford to meet with selected departmental managers and to gain an understanding of all the various career paths within a manufacturing and distribution 8 | Source Material by Canford
company. At the end of the project the students would submit their project to the National body who would decide the winners in a variety of categories. Well this year EDT decided to rebrand the Go4SET program which is now known as the Bronze Industrial Cadets Program which due to the pandemic was to be delivered virtually! This had far reaching consequences as it meant the program could be delivered nationally with no geographical boundaries being applied. Basically this meant that Canford could be partnered with schools in any part of the country but after careful consideration we informed EDT that our preference was to continue to partner schools in our local community and hence we were partnered with Newcastle High School for Girls. The program began in January and my fears as to how it would work on a virtual platform were quickly dispelled as the technology allowed me to “meet” with the teacher and the pupils in their own homes on a weekly basis. The girls themselves were magnificent not only attending our weekly meetings but also putting in a great deal of additional work over the weekends. They chose an environmental project and at times were ably supported by John Driver our Design Manager and Mark Brindley our Operations Director with all encounters taking place on the ZOOM platform. Although they put together an excellent project document they did not feature among the national winners of the awards. Call UK sales on +44(0)191 418 1122 or email sales@canford.co.uk
