The new £3.6m construction skills centre at Wiltshire College’s Trowbridge campus will be officially opened on Wednesday as part of National Apprenticeship Week.
The 2,300 sq m purpose-built centre accepted its first students at the start of term and has enabled the college to expand its construction courses. It is now teaching a range of plumbing, carpentry, electrical, gas, bricklaying and painting and decorating skills.
Joining Wiltshire College acting principal Amanda Burnside at the opening ceremony will be Mayor of Trowbridge Glyn Bridges, Hugh Nokes, director of Devizes and Swindon-based Renelec, which provides specialist services to the building industry, and a representative of contractor Rydon Construction, which has a base near Bristol. 
The official opening coincides with World Plumbing Day – one of a number of events during National Apprenticeship Week. The new facility, also an accredited gas training centre, will officially open its doors to a number of companies representing a variety of trades.
The Apprenticeship Torch, which is touring the South of England during National Apprenticeship Week, will also stop off at the centre
The torch, symbolising how an apprenticeship transfers knowledge from one individual to another, will signal the start of a plumbing competition on the day between students from Wiltshire College’s Trowbridge and Salisbury campuses as well as Swindon College, Gloucestershire College, City of Bristol College and South Gloucestershire and Stroud College.
Students will pit their skills by plumbing a radiator against the clock in a series of timed competitions between 10am and 2pm.
Deputy director of technology at Wiltshire College Trowbridge, Steve Gingell, said: “It’s an exciting time for us, and the day will allow the college to showcase what are state-of-the-art, modern facilities for young people to develop their skills and prepare them for a career in a sector which currently has fantastic employment opportunities.”
Director of curriculum and campus at Trowbridge, Karen O’Connell, added: “We have an excellent track record of training people for the construction industry through our full and part-time courses and our successful apprenticeship programmes.
“The new construction skills centre is enabling us to meet the increasing demand for skilled workers and the official opening will allow us to celebrate this and show its potential to local and regional employers.”
Wiltshire Enterprise will also host an engineering employer breakfast at Wiltshire College Chippenham on Tuesday as part of National Apprenticeship Week, followed by tours of the new £21m campus, which is set to open this autumn.
Deputy director for the Thames Valley Skills Funding Agency, Paul Lucken, said: “Apprenticeships are at the heart of the Government’s drive to equip people with the skills employers need to grow and compete.
“Nearly every employer that takes on an apprentice reports benefits to their business from improved productivity, products or services, the introduction of new ideas to the organisation, improved staff morale and better staff retention.”
Employers considering taking on apprentices can gain more information at http://www.wiltshire-enterprise.co.uk/apprenticeships/
