Around 170 young people from schools across Derbyshire and Leicestershire were given a taste of life as an engineer as a local company marked National Manufacturing Day.
Melbourne based Acres Engineering – which makes bespoke engineered products for a range of clients – threw open its doors to host young people from eight schools plus an army cadet group for National Manufacturing Day on September 25.
Primary and secondary aged pupils from The Pingle Academy in Swadlincote, Weston on Trent Primary School, Chellaston Academy, Ashby School, Derby High, St Wystan’s in Repton, University Technical College in Pride Park and Ticknall Army Cadets were treated to a tour of the manufacturing facility, seeing all its processes from design to manufacture to spray painting.
With the help of visitors from the Army Engagement Team, aspiring young engineers were given a practical taster of a range of engineering activities, including virtual welding, drone building and flying, assembling a radio and building a free-standing tower.
Acres managing director Luke Parker DL said the day was all about celebrating the UK’s thriving manufacturing scene and inspiring young people to consider a career in engineering.
He said: “We had a great day at Acres welcoming primary and secondary aged children from a wide range of schools to take a look at our manufacturing processes and have a go at some hands-on activities designed to test their skills – and have fun too!
“At Acres we are passionate about inspiring young people and boosting social mobility through the many opportunities we offer from work experience to apprenticeships.
“It’s been great to see young people really enjoying themselves and we hope we may see some of them come back and take on some work experience with us in the future, or even come and undertake an apprenticeship.
“The British manufacturing scene is alive and well and it’s brilliant that National Manufacturing Day is here on our calendar to allow us to celebrate that. We are very grateful to our friends in the Army who put on some really inspiring activities for young people to get stuck into.”
Janet Gostick, raising aspirations co-ordinator at The Pingle Academy in Swadlincote, said the day had been a great opportunity for students to find out more about engineering.
She said: “It has been a fantastic opportunity for us to bring our students to have a look at engineering in action and the careers that are available to them. We have got some year 10 students here who are just starting out on their GCSE pathway, and also some year 13 engineers as well who are completing their A-levels. It gives them a great opportunity to see what else is out there.”
Grace Dawson, a student at The Pingle Academy, said: “I liked seeing how the materials can go from random shapes to actual products, and the way they are put through different processes, and become something!”
Martin Stephens, a teacher at Weston-on-Trent Primary School, said: “Our children have really enjoyed it. It has been amazing to see them come here and hear and see things that they might have seen in real life, and how they are made and manufactured and put together. It has opened their eyes to other possibilities and careers and things that they might want to do. We are really keen to expose our children to different options they could follow later in life. It has been amazing to come to a business like Acres Engineering and see the process right from raw materials all the way through to a finished product. For children to understand how all of that happens in one organisation is really brilliant.”
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