Newbury College recently hosted Pangbourne Rotary Club's annual fund raising event. A number of Art and Design students were able to showcase their fashion skills at the event. The show was followed by a dinner and charity auction with an entertaining fashion show were £2000 was raised for charity.
Inspiration for the student fashion show was taken from a number of historical periods from Victorian Gothic revival, the 1920s and the 1950s and up to the present day. There was a variety of historical references that gave students the idea of a fashion show following different periods of time. Any gaps in the timeline were filled with clothes students found that they could style, which they were helped with by one of the College's very talented Learning support Assistants, Kim Broughton.
Jackie Heggs, Course Tutor for Art and Design, said, "Three students had experience in making garments but for the rest it was completely new. Although the group was mixed all students designed clothes for females which were designed for occasions ranging for 'A night on the town' and a day at the races to 'A Gothic tea party'.
Models of the show included Art and Fashion students Natasha Cockram who plans to join the Army in a few months' time, Jessica Brown, who will be studying Foundation Art and Design at the College, Public Services Student Jazzmyn Field and her friend Emma. Yaritza Baker had recently flown in from her home in Gran Canaria to attend an interview to return to Newbury College to study on the Foundation Diploma in Art and Design and also volunteered to help out as a model.
Some of the clothes featured in the show were; a top and skirt in burgundy satin with net petticoats fully accessorised with a cummerbund style belt, a shawl and fascinator, a red 1950's style dress with white polka dots, a short sleeveless contemporary dress in a floral abstract satin fabric, a black long evening dress with black and red laced bodice and a blue satin cocktail dress. All the clothes showed the fantastic talent of Newbury College's students.
Newbury College hosted Camp Hopson's charity tennis day on Saturday 6 July where Jonathan Hopson, CEO of Camp Hopson played table tennis for 12 hours with various opponents who all paid to play for charity.
The event was held in order to support the West Berkshire Alzheimer Association and raised £300 for the organisation. Participants made a small donation to play against Jonathon with time slots ranging between 10 minutes to 12 hours. There was a range of abilities from beginners to advanced, including Berkshire Champions, Duncan Campbell and David Barr. Duncan Campbell is a former champion now retired and David Barr is currently ranked 3rd in the county.
Players had the chance to win £50 Camp Hopson vouchers one for the longest rally, and one for the longest length of play. Commenting on the 12 hour event Jonathan Hopson, CEO of Camp Hopson in Newbury said, "I was pleased to be able to play over 60 games of table tennis in 12 hours and the level of support from all those that took part was very encouraging. There was a wide variety of skill levels represented, ranging from some who had not picked up a table tennis bat for more than 30 years, to 2 former Berkshire table tennis champions. On behalf of the Camp Hopson charity committee, we would like to thank Joe Pegg and his team at Newbury College and everyone who took part on the day in helping to raise £300 for West Berkshire Alzheimers".
Joe Pegg, Sports Maker at Newbury College who helped organise the event said, "This was a fantastic event which was really well supported by community members. Jonathan did an outstanding job and was so motivated to complete this exhausting task. The event saw a constant flow of people joining in and playing as well as supporting the event and the charity".
Certificates and prizes were awarded at two special ceremonies recently to Newbury College students who have completed the National Six Book Challenge, which is run in partnership with West Berkshire Libraries. Certificates and prizes were presented at two award ceremonies by Dr Anne Murdoch, Principal of Newbury College and Mike Brook, West Berkshire Council's Library Services Manager.
In its fifth year the 'Challenge' is aimed at supporting and encouraging less confident readers. As the name suggests, readers are asked to read six books of their choice and record their progress in a diary.
Mike Brook, West Berkshire Council's Library Services Manager said, "The aim is to get more people reading and build their confidence and literacy skills. Mr Brook told the students; "Reading is not only important for learning and finding information. In a stressful world it's also one of the most effective ways to relax."
This year, 34 Connect and ACL College learners successfully completed the National 6 Book challenge. Newbury College also ran a scheme for English for Non Native Speakers learners separately, in which 61 learners took part with prizes and certificates awarded at the same ceremonies.
LRC Manager at Newbury College Fiona Lees said, "The Newbury College reading challenge, which runs alongside the national 6 Book Challenge has been very popular with our learners. Learners have commented on how much their reading has improved over the period of the challenge. It has been great to see the learners' progress with their reading".
Steph Searle, one of the winners for the best diary entry, wrote "I like this challenge because I found out that I can read lots more things. It was excellent!" Other learners who took part expressed how they thought the book challenge was very interesting, challenging and helped them to get into reading more.
Newbury College hosted a charity Fun Run on Monday 10 June in aid of the Alliance for Youth Development UK (AYD). The event was organised by Health and Social Care student Louise Lane in order to help raise money for AYD to help those suffering in Ghana.
Individuals had the option to take part in fancy dress and were not restricted to running, with many choosing to complete the course by skipping or doing a three legged race.
Organiser of the event Louise Lane said, "We are currently trying to raise money for two projects, the building of a new orphanage and the instillation of clean water. All they money raised for AYD UK will make a huge difference to the lives of those suffering in Ghana".
Alliance for Youth Development UK is a non-profit organisation in the UK supporting the development of orphans and community members affected by HIV and AIDS in Ghana. AYD UK supports AYD Ghana to promote the development and empowerment of rural youth, women, and communities through establishing sustainable programs and coordinating funds and volunteers for programs that improve the lives and achieves the aspirations of marginalized members of Ghanaian Society.
Louise was inspired to help raise funds for the charity by her friend, Shadee Gerayesh-Nejad, who founded the charity in 2012. The initial project is to ensure funds are raised for the build of an orphanage that will home up to 30 disadvantaged orphans. The overall budget for this project is £30,000.
Both Shadee, and Newbury College Health and Social Care student, Louise, will be travelling to Ghana in December 2013 in order to get the project started. Whilst in Ghana they will be caring for the children that are in desperate need of help and delivering HIV/AIDS and sexual health programmes to the community.
If you are interested in making a donation, or have ideas of fund raising opportunities please visit www.ayduk.org for more details.