Keighley College is working with a number of local employers to raise the profile of textile manufacturing as a career option. The College opened it’s new Textile Academy in April and will be offering Fashion and Textile Apprenticeships from September. A number of videos have been made shoeing examples of the work that goes on in textiles and the environment in a modern textile factory.

To see the video of Specialised Cover in Shipley click here

To find out more contact our apprenticeship team:

@ apprenticeships@keighleycollege.ac.uk
T 01535 685 035

28 Students and staff completed the Keighley College Library’s Reading Challenge, reading a total of 252 books overall! All participants were rewarded with a certificate at a presentation held in the library.

Many congratulations to them all.

Keighley College is growing its offer and investing in new facilities such as our new science laboratory and we are delighted to announce a whole range of new courses and apprenticeships for 2017. These include:

• Access to HE – Business
• Access to HE – Health
• Brickwork
• Games Design
• Foundation degree in Health & Care
• Part Time Child Care
• Science
• Travel & Tourism
• Motor Cycle Engineering
• Textiles

Call 01535 685 000 or mail enquiries@keighleycollege.ac.uk to find out more

Keighley College has also added to its apprenticeship offer, with new courses in Facilities Management, Fashion and Textiles, Teaching Assistants, Sport, Business & Administration and many more.

Call 01535 685 035 or mail apprenticeships@keighleycollege.ac.uk to find out more

Join us as we host the first Keighley Business Club event of 2017, with special guest speaker Kris Hopkins MP.

Enjoy this free event with a buffet dinner and networking opportunities. All businesses are welcome, of any size, from Keighley, the Aire Valley, and beyond.

Kris Hopkins, member of Parliament for Keighley & Ilkley, will be giving a presentation on his current projects, with an emphasis on the economic vitality of Keighley and West Yorkshire.

This event is free to attend but please RSVP by registering here.

The Keighley Business Club was founded in 2016 and is powered by Keighley BID. We aim to connect businesses across Keighley and West Yorkshire, promoting collaboration and providing a forum for the sharing of ideas.

A small group of students have been learning the art of becoming entrepreneurs with the help of local business Small Office Supplies. Taking advantage of a vacant retail until on campus in the College Atrium – these young business people have opened their own store ‘Triangle’ starting with Mother’s Day promotions of cards and gifts. The store is open to the public and not limited to the students on site.

With some help and training from Helen Avison of Small Office Supplies, they have been learning the art of how to become a retailer. Helen commented, “the enthusiasm these young people have shown has been terrific and it has been a pleasure to work with them. It is really encouraging to see that we have such talent in our local education facilities and we are looking forward to encouraging them further. This is a not for profit initiative and all about helping students understand the workings of business – albeit in a ‘Small’ way!”

Chris Stott – Keighley College Head of Business Engagement added, “It is such an amazing opportunity for our students to get some real insight and experience of business as part of their work experience. This has been a really successful project for them to work on.”

The students had workshop training at Small Office Supplies to learn about pricing, promotions, merchandising and general retail management. They then went on to create their own brand logo, signs and posters. The ‘Triangle’ store will be offering stationery supplies for the students on an on-going basis, plus developing promotions for the Easter period and Father’s Day.

New funding secured in Keighley will soon give a much-needed boost to the local textile industry. A £30,000 investment from the Textile Growth Fund is enabling a new textile academy to launch at Keighley College in January.

The college has worked with local employers to secure the funding that will provide opportunities for unemployed people to fill growing skills gaps.

Originally a thriving centre for textiles and weaving, Keighley was at the heart of wool and cotton processing and textile-machinery manufacture before its slow decline. Now, Keighley College will offer training with state-of-the-art equipment including nine industrial sewing machines, a five-metre cutting table and industrial cutting knives.

Students will complete a four-week course that will cover employability skills, work experience, and hands-on sessions with the latest industrial equipment. At the end of the programme, students will be offered a guaranteed job interview with a local employer, such as college partners Fibreline or JTS Cushions, and the ability to progress onto a full Apprenticeship.

Chris Stott, Head of Business Engagement at Keighley College, said: “Keighley College is reacting to meet the needs of employers in a flexible manner and we are optimistic about what the academy will bring to the local community. This is a unique provision that nobody else is offering at apprenticeship level and we aim to be a leading provider within the textile industry for the local area.”

“A former student at the college and owner of The Stitch Society, Charlotte Meek, and will be one of the tutors on the course. Her enthusiasm and expertise has helped to lead the project, ensuring the best provision and equipment is in place.

Celia Thornley, Head of Skills at the Alliance Project/Textile Growth Fund said: “We are proud and excited to support the new Textiles Academy, which has the potential to create local jobs in response to rising demand for UK manufactured textiles products.  

“It is great to see this partnership between the College and local employers, resulting in the development of a facility that will deliver the training and skills textile employers need. This resource will not only help to address immediate skills shortages within the Keighley area but, in a wider context support the growth and repatriation of the UK textiles sector.”

The Textile Academy will open on January 20th at Keighley College. For more information, contact Chris Stott on 01535 685 005 or email chris.stott@keighleycollege.ac.uk

Airedale NHS Foundation Trust’s first group of apprentice health care support workers will start working in clinical areas from next week and are raring to go following their induction training. The 12 month apprenticeships will involve the new recruits delivering care to patients whilst working alongside and being supervised by experienced staff; the apprentices will also receive classroom-based education delivered by Keighley College’s Health & Social Care Team from the Airedale Hospital site, following a partnership agreement between to the two local organisations. At the end of the 12 months the apprentices will have a diploma level qualification in health and social care and the guarantee of a permanent job.

Ian Hargreaves, Assistant Director at the Trust said, “We are delighted to have recruited our first group of apprentice health care support workers, they can’t wait to start working in earnest, they are desperate to make a positive difference for patients and keen to learn; we have been overwhelmed by their enthusiasm, their desire to work at Airedale and help care for our patients. We are thrilled to be working in partnership with Keighley College; their teaching and assessing expertise will be a critical part of the apprenticeship programme; we will be recruiting a second group of apprentices to start work at the end of February and a third group later in the spring”.

CarnaudMetalBox Engineering apprentices Mark Smith, James Thomason and Andy Joyce have WON GOLD at this year’s UK Skills competition in the Manufacturing Team Challenge at Birmingham NEC Arena. The CMB Apprenticeship scheme which is delivered through Keighley College is a well-developed highly skilled apprenticeship programme for young aspiring engineers based at their Shipley Headquarters, many of whom go onto managerial roles within the business.

The competition comprised of 3 core skills (electrical, machining and fabrication / hand fitting) a surprise project, a main project and a 5min time trial. The team from CarnaudMetalbox Engineering won gold beating the second place team with a 15% margin on the overall score.

Andrew Truelove, CMB Engineering’s General Manager comments ‘I am delighted that our team of young engineers have achieved this accolade. Winning Gold underpins the direction of our apprenticeship scheme, but more importantly it highlights the talent in these young engineers forging a career path in the industry ’

‘What better motivator to a young apprentice than winning Gold in a UK wide Skills based competition, a truly magnificent achievement not only for Mark, James and Andy, but for CMB Engineering as a united force in today’s competitive markets.’ Comments Truelove.