14 students from the Painting and Decorating Level 2 course at Wirral Met College are taking part in a unique project to design four offices as part of the Education Partnership with Morgan Sindall Construction for Our Space, care leavers hub.
The brief for the project is to create, present and deliver the makeover of four offices at Our Space, a new hub for Wirral Care Leaver’s aged 16 – 25 in Birkenhead developed and set up by Wirral Council, but entirely based on the ideas of young people who have left care and older Children Looked After.
The project launched on Wednesday 27 April, with a site visit and coaching session from Ambrose Ellis and Morgan Sindall Construction. Students were briefed on how to approach the task before being grouped into teams to come up with ideas and measure up.
They were then given four weeks to produce a final design for presentation to the client, Our Space on 27 April 2022.
Mika Kowalska, Painting and Decorating Level 2 student involved in the project said: “I basically came to college with next to no skills with painting and decorating and the fact that we got to get involved with actual clients, put in the work, and really explore what we’ve learnt over the past couple of months has been amazing.
“It’s been really fun. I loved being creative with it because we got to present our own ideas, our own opinions. Everyone got involved so it felt like real team work - like in the real world.
“I think that’s what you need as a young person – to get out there and show people what you are really capable of, what ideas you have and really market yourself for the future.”
Gareth Jones, Learning, Skills and Employment Manager at Wirral Council said: “It’s been great to see this project come together and the Wirral Met students have been amazing in developing ideas that will make a massive difference to the space.
“The support that Morgan Sindall and Ambrose Ellis have given this project has been fantastic and the fact it’s a real-life project that will really upgrade a building used for some of Wirral’s most vulnerable residents makes it all the more worthwhile.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the students using their skills they’ve learnt at college and the vision they have for this project brought to life.”
Shaheeda Da Costa-Miller, Document Controller & Site Administrator from Morgan Sindall Construction said: “We were really impressed by the students’ passion for the project, and for the high standard and creativity of their ideas.
“It was evident that they had put a lot of time and thought into their presentations. I’m really interested to see how their projects turn out and work in the spaces, and to see the students flourish and grow throughout the experience.”
Mike Ambrose, from Ambrose Ellis Painting Contractors commented: “We have a long and successful relationship working alongside Morgan Sindall and are delighted to be involved with the students and their projects through Our Space and Wirral Met College.
“I was impressed with the efforts that the teams had shown in their presentations and I am looking forward to seeing the completion of the decorated rooms.
“We at Ambrose Ellis pride ourselves on delivering quality work and it’s nice to see new people entering our industry with a positive attitude.”
Following client sign off students will then have three days to complete the transformation for the final reveal on 9 May 2022.
If you are interested in studying painting and decorating at Wirral Met applications are still open.
