DORSET BUSINESS FOCUS / NEWS
Global Rainbow hailed a ‘shining success’ as thousands share online Having lit up the night sky over Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch for three nights last month, the Global Rainbow has been hailed a ‘shining success’ for the BCP region. American artist Yvette Mattern’s renowned light art installation was hosted by Lighthouse, Poole’s centre for the arts, as a beacon of hope for the future and a signal of the venue’s resilience as it builds back from the dark days of the pandemic. “As an expression of optimism and a signal of the way forward, Global Rainbow was a shining success,” says Tim Colegate, Head of Programming at Lighthouse. “Thanks to funding from BCP Council with the support of the Garfield Weston Foundation and Poole BID, as well as sponsorship from HSBC UK, we have been able to host a dramatic and entirely
positive cultural experience that focusses on how the arts can give us all a lift. “And the community has responded in the most amazing and creative way, sharing photos and stories on social media in their thousands.” In the five days from the first test transmissions, Lighthouse reported its Facebook page likes had rocketed by more than 700% and views of its Facebook page were up by more than 500%, reaching well over 140,000 people. Global Rainbow made the news on BBC TV and radio, even attracting reports of ‘unexplained lights in the sky’ from the Isle of Wight and a competition to photograph the laser lights the furthest from Poole was won by a social media follower on the Isle of Wight. Global Rainbow is a large-scale public art light installation that beams seven rays of laser light to represent the colour spectrum of a natural rainbow – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet – and create a natural perspective horizon arc, like that of a rainbow. It has been seen previously in major cities including London, New York, Berlin, Tokyo and Toronto, and was hosted by Lighthouse as part of its autumn reopening programme helping to keep a spotlight on Poole. www.lighthousepoole.co.uk
Impressive New Esports Facilities Open at Bournemouth & Poole College Esports, once the hobby of a minority, has become a fast-growing global industry that offers a wide range of employment opportunities and contributes a huge amount to the global economy. In response to this, Bournemouth & Poole College have invested in brand new Esports facilities for students on the newly introduced Esports course. The new facilities are impressive to say the least – a brand new suite of state-of-the-art gaming computers sit in a bespoke painted room designed to play the perfect home to our Esports team – The BPC Buccaneers. High-tech gaming chairs, keyboards and controllers are among the specific equipment available for use by students on the course. Steve Bell, Learning Manager for Digital Creative Media, said, “Offering courses that reflect the latest industry developments and significant growth areas means that our students can benefit from the best possible start to their careers. Facilities like our Esports room and gaming arena really set us apart from other providers and gives an excellent learning environment for students on the Esports course.” “We encourage anyone interested in Esports to visit the facilities to see them for themselves. more news online - www.dorsetchamber.co.uk/news
You can book on to an Open Event at www. thecollege.co.uk/open in March 2022 where our tutors will be glad to show you around. Alternatively, if you or your child are interested in studying Esports, our customer service team will be glad to help you through the application process.” With the exciting new course and the amazing facilities, the Esports course at Bournemouth has been hugely popular. With huge numbers of applications coming in, this is one not to be missed. www.thecollege.co.uk/esports
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protection with Tower Supplies
Dates for your diary! We know you “focus on protection” for your workplace every day but here are some special dates that we believe you will find interesting and beneficial: 1st to 7th February is Tinnitus Awareness Week. Tower will team up with the British Safety Industry Federation to explain “Listen Today, Hear Tomorrow!” 7th April is World Health Day. Foot Health Week runs from 12th to 18th April. Good safety footwear can limit musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) which account for a lot of lost working days. Did you know some PPE workwear includes UV protection? 3rd to 9th May is Sun Awareness Week! World Hand Hygiene Day is on 5th May. The right glove (PPE) is important, and we’ve all got used to using more sanitiser nowadays – Tower can help with both. Hard hat awareness week falls mid-June – Tower have a guide on caring for safety helmets. Ladies PPE workwear is in the Tower catalogue, and we’ll draw special attention to it on 23rd June when it’s Women in Engineering Day. 1st August is World Lung Cancer Day. I’m one of several Tower people specially trained in the fitting of respirators. Global Handwashing Day is 15th October. Speak to Tower for soap, paper towel and sanitiser solutions. In November it’s Road Safety Week. We have hi-vis garments available. If you plan to use one of these awareness days or weeks to help engagement in safety in your workplace, please contact me directly and I will be happy to help. Mark Dowling | Divisional Managing Director mark.dowling@towersupplies.com www.towersupplies.com
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