Ribble Valley MP Maya Ellis believes the Lancashire and Cumbria Institute of Technology is laying the right foundations to support the region’s housebuilding targets – and has tried her hand at bricklaying.
Maya (pictured) praised the ‘real community effort’ between employers, education and learners as she toured Preston College, part of the Institute of Technology, which she says will be fundamental to meeting Lancashire’s minimum annual housebuilding targets.
The MP, who shared that her father-in-law is a builder, spoke to staff and learners during the visit, organised to showcase Preston’s provision as one of eight partner colleges of the IoT.
The Lancashire and Cumbria Institute of Technology, a government initiative, is a collaboration of colleges working with employers to ensure technical training in six key sectors gives learners the skills the economy needs.
Maya said: “Preston College and the Lancashire and Cumbria Institute of Technology are well placed to support the next wave of housebuilding we need in Lancashire and we need to protect and promote the construction capability that has been built up here.
“What I’ve seen here feels like a real community effort between employers, the college and learners to really pay attention to what the local economy needs. That’s really powerful and it’s a delight to see.”
She joined principal Simon Nixon to look round the college’s provision in its IoT specialist areas of construction, health and engineering. She watched Emma King, curriculum quality lead for dental, pharmacy and health, lead learners in a session on risk assessments in care settings, using realistic weighted mannequins and mobility tools to simulate a real-world environment.
Learners told the MP they had a range of career goals, from sonographer to midwife, speech and language therapist and pharmacist, while one learner told her: “I just want to help people.”
Tutor Emma told the group that one former health student now works as a sonographer – for BAE Systems, looking for hairline fractures on submarines. The college is due to launch a new foundation degree in mental health in September in response to rising mental health issues in Lancashire.
The tour also took in the IoT’s engineering and manufacturing provision in Preston’s iSTEM building, where funding has been used to buy a robotic arm, 3D printers and a 3D scanner along with industry-leading software to replicate real-world tasks.
The final stop was the counselling department, where Maya spoke to lecturer Ian Sanderson and student Bubby Shearman about a project to use Minecraft and virtual reality worlds to deliver counselling sessions.
Maya said she had been inspired by her visit to the IoT’s Preston College site.
She said: “I think it’s remarkable to see the way that the profile of technical education is raised here. I’m going to go back to Parliament and will shout about Preston College and the Lancashire and Cumbria Institute of Technology as an incredible example of how a local economy is pulling together employer needs and a brilliant education environment for students, to feed the economic needs.”
Principal Simon Nixon said it was important to demonstrate the impact of Preston’s IoT provision.
He said: “Maya’s visit highlights the importance of continued collaboration between government, education, and industry to bridge skills gaps and drive economic growth in our region. It was a pleasure to show her round our facilities, and we look forward to working with her in the years to come as part of our shared mission of improving skills and opportunity.”
