Students’ Jubilee beacon receives national recoginition
Wed, 15 June 2022
Tameside College engineering students’ unique beacon featured on national TV to celebrate Queen’s jubilee.
On Thursday 2nd June BBC TV and Sky TV broadcast an interview with David Warrender, engineering teacher and his students about the beacon’s design and construction, alongside live footage of the beacon being lit.
The 14 foot high beacon, which has been erected in the grounds of Tameside Hospital, was chosen as the official NHS celebration of the jubilee by Bruno Peek, the Queen’s pageant master.
It features the official platinum jubilee emblem alongside the NHS logo and was lit using blue lights and lasers, representing the colours of the health service.
Students were set the task by the hospital trust in January and have used a variety of techniques and skills learnt during their qualification to develop the design, including: computer aided design (CAD), welding, laser cutting and polishing.
The beacon, alongside others across the UK and commonwealth, was lit during an official ceremony, with special guests including: the Civic Mayor of Tameside Mike Glover and Deputy Lord Lieutenant Cdr Janet Evans. Tameside College staff and students, alongside NHS staff, also attended the event.
Jackie Moores, principal and CEO at Tameside College, said: “I was delighted when the hospital approached the college and asked us to get involved. Our engineering students were very excited to create a unique beacon which is worthy of such a royal occasion. It will be something they will be able to tell their children in years to come and I am absolutely blown away with the finished product. It looks fantastic now it’s completed and lit.”
Karen James, Tameside and Glossop NHS Foundation Trust chief executive, said: “It’s a great honour to have been chosen to fly the flag for the NHS at such an important event in our history. We will never see an occasion quite like it again. A platinum anniversary is a remarkable achievement and to be a key part of it is wonderful for both the trust and the college. It was certainly a night to remember.”