Ex-Telford students to return for Bridge Centre's celebration
In its span of a quarter of a century, The Bridge Centre, based in Telford, has given thousands of students vital skills in English and maths – and now it is inviting them back to help celebrate its 25th anniversary.
Two events have been organised, the first of which is on May 15 at the centre, at Telford College of Arts and Technology.
The first is on Friday, May 15, from 9am to 5pm.
"Anyone who has been taught in The Bridge Centre is more than welcome to come back and share some experiences," said Mrs Sally Barrell, head of school for adult maths and English.
"There will be light refreshments and a display of old photographs, and they will be able to chat to staff."
said Mrs Sally Barrell, head of school for adult maths and English.
That open day is from 9am to 5pm and then, On Monday, May 18, it will be the turn of former staff, who are being invited to come along between 10am and noon for a bit of a reunion.
Mrs Barrell said: "We've worked with so many people over the years, and we feel it's time, with 25 years, to celebrate. I think we've made an incredible difference to people's lives.
"We have taken people who have been in middle age and who have not had any qualifications through to accessing universities, gaining nursing qualifications, and have helped many people who have come to this country without the ability to speak English."
The centre began in 1990 and its hub is at TCAT, but there are also courses in various Shropshire towns.
"It's for anybody who needs maths and English, up to Level 2, which is an equivalent of the old 'C' grade GCSE. We teach maths and English to anybody who needs to get a qualification for whatever reason - it might be to get promotion at work, or they may be going university and may need to get on a access course, they might have been a carer when younger and didn't study at school because of other things, or it could be that they were bullied at school - there are all sorts of reasons people come to us wanting to improve their maths and English.
"We have learners from other countries, English speakers of other languages, who have lived here or have just arrived here.
"In the last academic year we had over 3,000 enrolments. This academic year we are still enrolling, because people can start at any time in the year, and we are well over 2,000 now.
"We need to blow our own trumpet. In the last three Ofsted reports we have been an outstanding department in the college."
Mrs Barrell says she is new to her role and mention should be made of the work of Val Jones, who was head of school for over 20 years, and Sandra Hayward, who worked with her, who both left last year.
"This college was part of the group of colleges that developed the new Skills for Life qualifications and trialled them," she added.
The Bridge Centre originally began in an old biology lab, but has been at its current base within the college since 1999.
