In brilliant news for Kent and Medway, MidKent College has been awarded funding to develop facilities and resources that will help people seeking careers in green energy.
Announced during a visit to the College's Maidstone Campus by Secretary of State for Education The Rt Hon Gillian Keegan MP, Government funding totalling over £200m has been awarded to support Colleges and Universities to offer more training opportunities in key industries. The investment is targetted to address the specific needs of each region identified by local business and employers in Local Skills Improvement Plans.
MidKent College was awarded funding to build a new training facility to provide hands-on experience in Retrofit energy efficiency measures to support renewable and sustainable energy solutions in existing buildings. The Maidstone Campus is already home to the College's Sustainable Construction Skills Factory and Home Energy Centre, and will increase training opportunities to support converting power supplies in domestic and commercial buildings to renewable and sustainable power including ground source, air source and solar energy.
The new centre will use the latest thermal imaging, aerial survey and mapping, and virtual reality technology to develop simulated engineering challenges, construction processes and techniques, and prepare local people with the green skills and knowledge required by Kent and Medway employers.
College Principal Simon Cook said:
“We’re thrilled that construction and building services businesses across Kent and Medway will benefit from this investment in retrofit technology and training. We know from our conversations with employers that growing skills for sustainable construction practices and improving the energy efficiency of existing housing stock are priorities for the sector here in the South East.
We’re incredibly proud that this new facility will work seamlessly with our Home Energy Centre and Sustainable Construction Skills Factory at the heart of our Maidstone campus, and alongside our own efforts to make the campus carbon neutral by 2030”.
The announcement comes in the same week that our students celebrated Green Careers Week with Green Careers Fairs on both of our campuses.
