Building work on our brand-new manufacturing and engineering hub has been completed.

The project is part of the wider, £12 million creation of Providence Park, a new industrial site being built on the corner of Dalton Lane and Bradford Road.

Providence Park is being part-funded, to the tune of £6.5 million, through the Government’s Keighley Towns Fund – and £3 million of that was used to produce Keighley College Engineering Hub.

The facility has been designed to take the training of local apprentices and students to the next level, so it can meet the rapidly evolving skills needs of local employers.

We are now busy kitting out the building with cutting-edge equipment – including a future technologies lab and engineering workshop – ahead of welcoming the first students in September.

Building on the district’s proud heritage

Principal Kevin O’Hare said: “This is a major milestone for the college, Providence Park and Keighley – and could be a real game-changer for our district and its economy.

“We are privileged to be based in an industrial heartland that continues to build on its proud history, with many of our employers forging ahead into exciting new areas of manufacturing, engineering and technology, including robotics.

“For those businesses to flourish, though, they need a steady stream of apprentices and students who have industry experience and the up-to-date skills needed to join and strengthen their workforce.

“That’s exactly what the engineering hub has been created to help us deliver – and we’ll be strengthening our already deep bonds with the district’s businesses as we develop our offering there, and work together on apprenticeships along with industry placements for our vocational students.

“We can’t wait to show employers, and our learners, around these cutting-edge new facilities which we are delighted to be opening this year, as the college celebrates its 200th anniversary.”

Employment and skills boost

Bradford Council’s Lead Member for Regeneration, Transport and Planning, Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, was keen to point out the wider benefits.

He said: “Alongside the new state-of-the-art manufacturing and engineering hub, Providence Place is also home to five new buildings housing 23 industrial units. We expect about 100 jobs will be created in total across the whole site.

“Keighley has always had a proud manufacturing and engineering heritage. Its Engineering Hub will enable local people to learn highly-specialised skills and create employment opportunities for the future.”

An incredible opportunity

Keighley Towns Fund Chair, Tim Rogers added: “The creation of the Engineering Hub, in partnership with Keighley College, represents an incredible skills and training opportunity for the town.

“We are proud of what is being achieved at Providence Park, which is a really exciting commercial development for Keighley, and the opportunities it will create for generations to come.”

The hub will be able to train up to 120 students or apprentices, plus staff, at any one time. The building’s lower floor will include a fully kitted-out engineering workshop, complete with lathes and milling machines.

The upper level, meanwhile, will have a future technologies lab fitted out with a laser cutter, printing machines and testing equipment, along with two IT rooms and a teaching space.

We’ve embraced some cutting-edge technology to help us train students in one of the most traditional of trades – welding.

Our virtual welder machine helps new learners get used to welding techniques, risk-free and without the need for protective gear, before they try the real thing.

Teachers are also finding that the equipment, which gives users a score based on their performance, is a useful way of adding some lighthearted competition to classes.

And, by saving on materials, it offers sustainability benefits too.

A valuable teaching tool

Welding and Fabrication Course Leader, Simon Davison (pictured), said: “The Lincoln Electric Vrtex 360 virtual welder we use is pretty good for developing initial hand – eye coordination, and for practising travel speed, angle and torch distance away from the weld.

“The visuals are good, the sound is realistic and the choice of different work zones is cool.

“We can operate virtually in a typical welding bay, a large top-end auto shop, a military desert base or even a nuclear power plant. All the scenes and backdrops simulate real working environments.”

Adding fun and a hazard-free experience

The equipment, purchased a few years ago with government Levelling Up funding, is also a useful aid for logging students’ efforts and ranking them according to factors like travel speed, angle, and weld quality.

Each user is given a score and can replay a recording of their welding work to see what they did well, and where they could improve.

Simon said: “Overall it is a very good piece of kit and adds fun and provides a hands-on experience whilst eliminating all of the potential hazards or dangers of real welding.”

The human factor

As great as the virtual reality (VR) machine is though, particularly for beginner welders, it does have its limitations.

Simon said: “It is a good ice breaker and is popular with brand new welding students but once they get a taste for real welding there is no substitute for the real thing, as the temperature whilst welding cannot be simulated.

“And a real welding machine will always operate even when your parameters and settings are incorrect, though you’ll get a few weld defects or sparks. With the VR machine, unless you have set it up by the book, it will not work whatsoever so setting it up can be quite tricky.

“Other than that, it’s a great way to save money on metal and a good way to establish a positive relationship, with a fun competitive element, in class.”

A video of Simon demonstrating the virtual welder in action can be viewed here.

Some of our closest business partners have been sharing their memories of the college during our 200^th anniversary year.

We have established strong links with so many of the district’s companies over the past two centuries, not least through training their workforces.

In the case of Fives Landis, the relationship has involved training many apprentices who have gone on to become part of the firm’s senior leadership team – including Managing Director Phil Jenkins.

Engineering Director Ian Wellcock, who began his Mechanical Engineering apprenticeship with the college in 1999, said: “All Landis apprentices went through the college, and we have many success stories.”

Inspiring future generations

Mechanical Engineering Administrator Amanda Dowden started as an apprentice at Fives Landis, which manufactures grinding equipment for the automotive industry, in 1978.

She said: “Studying at the college has shaped my career, and it helped give me the confidence to do something I enjoyed in an area that was not seen as something a woman would do in those days.

“The college has been an integral part of training future engineers. I hope it continues for another 200 years, inspiring generations to come.”

Meeting local demand

Apprenticeship manager John Harrison’s career at Fives Landis, meanwhile, spans four decades. He said: “The college was integral to training future engineers for what was then Landis Lund Ltd.

“While apprentices once had to travel elsewhere for training, we’ve now returned to our roots, with Keighley College as our main apprenticeship provider.”

A past to be proud of – and an exciting future

We are proud to have been able to help shape the careers of generations of residents, and provide them with more opportunities, for 200 years.

Originally established as Keighley Mechanics’ Institute on Valentine’s Day, 1825, the college has played a vital role in the community and continues to be a cornerstone of education and professional development.

We recently held a special evening meal for our partners, local dignitaries and past and present staff and students to celebrate the anniversary – and will be holding more events throughout the year.

Make sure you stay up to date with all the latest Keighley College news.

A group of our apprentices have just taken up positions at GP practices across West and North Yorkshire.

The move represents an exciting new stage in the college’s relationship with healthcare provider Modality Partnership.

Ten of our students will be putting their Level 3 Business Administration skills to good use at Modality-run GP surgeries in Keighley, Haworth, Crosshills, Skipton and more.

A great step into the world of work

Our Head of Business Engagement and Growth, Clare Fitzgerald, said: “We pride ourselves on working closely with the local community and respected organisations like Modality.

“This is a great opportunity for our apprentices to gain some invaluable, early real-world experience at a variety of GP surgeries in and around the district.”

Modality has previously teamed up with the college for a number of community health initiatives, including vaccination and health check clinics that were held on the campus. Speakers from the company have also given talks to our health and social care students as well as Access to Higher Education learners and staff.

An investment in young people

GP partner and Modality AWC Medical Director, Debbie Livesey, said: “It is fantastic to have ten apprentices from Keighley College with us this year and we look forward to helping them develop their careers in the health and care sector.

“We want to invest in local young people, give them the opportunity to build a career in Airedale, Wharfedale and Craven, and to inspire the next generation of healthcare employees.”

Our Principal has been putting a shift in on the factory floor at Acorn Stairlifts.

Kevin O’Hare visited the Steeton business to find out how a group of students from the college, who are on two-days-a-week supported internships with the firm, were getting on.

Kevin had been invited by the students themselves. He said: “I was asking them about their work at Acorn. They said it was great and that I should come along and ‘do some real work’ too!”

The college’s partnership with Acorn has been running for three years now, and four previous interns have gone on to secure jobs with the company. The current group of four students – Jason Baxter, James Littlewood, Jordan Lindley and Kenny Greenwood – work at Steeton on Thursdays and Fridays, supervised by Acorn staff and their own mentor, Fran Day.

A mutually beneficial partnership

Fran said: “All the supported interns have Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), which means they need a little more support initially, until they find their feet.

“I’m here to supervise them at first, then gradually pull back so they can work independently. They learn about productivity and work ethic, but really they just want to work.”

Ryan Baron, Production Manager at Acorn’s Steeton factory, said: “The supported interns are brilliant, they’re hard working and have fitted in really well. The work they do – assembling components for our stairlift rails – is work that our guys would actually be doing on the line.

“We move it off the line until they get the hang of it, but they still have to meet demand for the components and they don’t let us down. The work they’re doing helps them to gain skills and experience and helps us too, so the partnership with the college benefits us both.”

A brilliant opportunity to gain valuable life skills

Kevin, speaking during his visit, added: “It’s a brilliant opportunity for the students to understand what life’s like in a working environment, seeing the different processes and how the workplace is structured, from the reception, the canteen, right through to the factory floor.

“It’s a valuable experience, and we often forget how important that is. The work is important, but the context of the work is too. It’s what I call residual learning – it’s about social interaction, navigation, orientation, timekeeping.

“It’s not on any curriculum or part of any course programme, but these are valuable life skills we all need to acquire.”

Acorn Stairlifts, which has factories in Yorkshire and Scotland, is a world leader in the manufacture, installation and innovation of stairlifts.

Though its headquarters are in Steeton the company, which produces 70,000 staircases a year, has sales and service staff across the UK.

Keighley College student, Tom Waddington, has accepted a full-time role at Acorn Stairlifts following his supported internship.

Tom began working part-time at Acorn Stairlifts earlier this year. He joined the local firm as part of a supported internship; a structured study programme run by Keighley College, enabling young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan to achieve sustainable paid employment by equipping them with the skills they need for work. 

For the past nine months, Tom worked on the factory assembly lines, preparing metal work by inserting screws and bolts. His zest for learning and ambitious attitude was recognised amongst the team and the factory manager, Andrew Longthorne, decided to offer him a permanent position as an assembly worker.

Andrew commented: “Tom is a bright spark who has brought admirable enthusiasm and infectious positivity to the team. While on his internship, he showed real commitment and extra willingness to every aspect of his role. 

“He had a trial working the production line and performed fantastically, so we thought he would be perfect for a permanent role with us. In his new role, Tom will be responsible for producing the finished components for the staircase rail system.”

Tom has been on the supported internship programme for three months. As part of the initiative, he regularly works with Keighley College job coach, Shameem Koser, to develop his employability skills.

Shameem added: “We’re incredibly impressed with Tom’s progress at Acorn Stairlifts, who play a key role in providing life-changing opportunities for our students. Our supported internship programme is essential for developing important life and work skills, preparing our students for the workplace.”

Keighley College is a further education provider offering a range of courses, apprenticeships and internships. To find out more about the supported internship programme, visit keighleycollege.ac.uk.