POSTED ON 03/24/2022 IN News BY Jamie Bourn
Inspiring the Next Generation of Furniture Makers
Whitemeadow are committed to working with the local community and educating and inspiring the next generation of furniture makers, so to support National Careers week we ran an Open Week; whereby we invited local schools to visit our facilities and find out more about furniture manufacturing.
This offered an opportunity for students to gain hands on experience within sewing and upholstery and learn about available apprenticeships and careers within the furniture industry. In addition, the students were taken on a tour of our design and development centre, plus our industry-leading showroom. There were also talks from our designers, and representatives from Nottingham Trent University and WEBS Training to talk about different routes into careers within the furniture industry. In total we welcomed over 80 students throughout the week from various schools throughout the area.
Julia Matthews from the Futures Group commented: “It was great to attend your open event yesterday; brilliantly executed, the student experience was fun and interactive whilst learning a lot about the furniture industry and different roles”.
Michael Lucas from the Esteem Multi-Academy Trust said, “The pupils were buzzing when they got back to school in the afternoon” and Sheila Hicks from Inspire Learning added: “Thank you for opportunity to visit your sites yesterday and see what is involved in the making of furniture. It was an ‘eye opener’ for all of us plus the students discovered skills they didn’t know they had in the sewing room, and one brave lad tried the upholstery challenge. As a result, he is very interested in investigating a career in the business”.
Some of the students from Bracken Hill school very kindly sent emails to thank the team:
“Thank you for allowing us to visit, I enjoyed learning how people make cushions. I also enjoyed the tour around Whitemeadow. I would like to apply for a job there eventually when I’m old enough to”. Damien.
“Thank you for letting us go on a visit to Whitemeadow. Everyone was very kind, helpful and friendly. They helped us learn about Whitemeadow. Since I've never been inside a factory before I found the whole thing interesting. I personally enjoyed the sewing bit upstairs. The people who were there helped us make a cushion case. I learnt how to make a cushion case for sofas. I might work there when I'm older”. Ashleigh.
“Thank you for showing Whitemeadow when we visited. I really loved the sewing, I found it very interesting, and I would love to find a job there when I get older because of the sewing upstairs and the nice people who helped us, so thank you for the tour”. Edward.
Thank you to all of those involved in making the event a huge success.