The MOST Spring/Summer 2021

1 | 30 ‘REBUILD LANCASHIRE’ A VIRTUAL ONLINE EVENT FOR EMPLOYERS In March, we called up on all self-employed, SME’s and large organisations in Construction & the Built Environment to join us for our very first virtual event for construction to help ‘Rebuild Lancashire’. This was a free online learning and training event which was created to give employers and business owners alike further insight into the industry from an educational point of view, to offer important updates about the industry and how we as a College are continuing to #Upskill #Lancashire. Throughout the event there was an opportunity to join a live zoom chat with our industry experienced professionals including our Head of School Mark Taylor, Employer Engagement Manager; Daniel Crumblehulme; Apprenticeship Specialist Lauren Hill and Assistant Head for Adult Recruitment, Claire Woods. We hope to run these virtual events regularly, so please do keep an eye out for future events. If you would like to see the virtual event of March please email Rachael rfarrer@preston.ac.uk who will be able to send you a link. WE’RE LIVING IN A VIRTUAL WORLD Whilst we still cannot fully invite prospective learners, existing learners and employers onto the campus in large groups - our growing suite of online virtual events continues to be the most effective solution in offering the most uptodate and relevant information to our targeted audience groups. Our expanding portfolio of online events are continually proving to be fruitful, with a record number of visitors registering to attend each event. And whilst in some ways it can be difficult to recognise the positives that have come from three lockdowns, which have prevented face to face communication, our virtual platforms have allowed us to brilliantly bridge the gap. And with such success and positive feedback (below), we will continue to drive these platforms forward, improve upon and utilise them until we can welcome people back on campus again. Feedback from the most recent school leaver event included: “There was lots of valuable information about the College and now I feel like I know everything about it. I found out interesting facts about other courses.” “Really informative and helped me get a better understanding of what the College is about.” | 31