College celebrates summer festival turnout
ST VINCENT COLLEGE are celebrating a hugely successful summer festival as over 1,500 people basked in glorious sunshine last Saturday, June 10; the free event showcasing the education facilities and furthermore allowed visitors to be entertained by a range of different activities throughout the day.
One of the busier areas was the Shark Tank, which saw young people clamour to try out driving and role playing games in the college’s gaming suite. This offered a chance to learn about the Esports course being run at the college, whilst giving a cool space away from the soaring heat of 26 degrees outside.
Meanwhile the St Vincent climbing wall was a popular attraction whilst there was a free art competition and students from the School of Personalised Learning. This allowed them to unveil their summer musical Back To The Future with free milk shakes and a scaled down DeLorean.
Gosport Mayor Cllr Martin Pepper was guest of honour and he sat in the DeLorean during a tour of the stalls and activities. “It’s a wonderful event and I’m delighted to be here to meet everyone and see all the good things going on.”
Gosport Amateur Boxing Club were on site all day with their own boxing ring to demonstrate the sparring skills of their young fighters and chat about their work with young people. Coach Darren Blair commented: “It’s not just about boxing, it’s giving young people somewhere to go and giving them a healthy outlook on life.”
A raffle and Guess The Name of the Teddy competition raised money £170 for two charities; the boxing club and The Trash Café foodbank project in Gosport. Other charities represented on the day were Marvels and Meltdowns, which supports parents of children with autism / ADHD, and Stop Domestic Violence, which works with those who have suffered abuse and also with perpetrators.
The centrepiece of the day however were performances from more than 17 bands / soloists who produced more than six hours of classic covers and new music. As well as St Vincent musicians, there were guest slots for performers from sister college Richard Taunton Sixth Form College in Southampton alongside Bridgemary, Brune Park and Crofton Schools.
Music teacher Chris Harris said: “It was a fantastic day for the students, who really threw themselves into performing. It was great to showcase the talent we have here and also ideal preparation for our appearances on the main stage and running the local music stage at the Wickham Festival in August.”
He continued to say: “I’d also like to say a huge thanks to College Safety and Facilities Co-ordinator Jo Smith, who put in countless hours to organise a very successful event which provided a platform for our musicians to show off their skills to the community.”
Principal Andy Grant said he was delighted so many people were able to see the college and what it has to offer. He said: “We are a big part of the community in Gosport so it was a real treat to be able to welcome so many people in. We have beautiful grounds and we love showing them off.”
Mr Grant continued: “I’d like to thank Cllr Pepper for coming along and also to our main sponsor Frost Creative who have given us tremendous support. Everyone I spoke to was having a brilliant time so all of the hard work put in by the St Vincent team paid off.”
For more information on St Vincent and the courses being offered, readers can explore www.stvincent.ac.uk.
