Pupils look to a bright future for their home town
11 Jul 2024 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news
Young people from Ashington have been finding out what the future may hold for their town – and how they might be part of its evolution.
To celebrate the success of Northumberland County Council Archives team’s ‘Ashington to the Future project’ youngsters from Thomas Bewick NCEA Primary School held a tea party – complete with cake cutting!
The Year 5 pupils had worked on the project for several months – chatting to older people from the Ashington Veterans and Elders Institute about the history of the town, jobs they used to do and how life has changed.
They visited Newcastle University’s Farrell Centre for public architecture and Northumbria University to find out about Uni life, STEM based career opportunities and to learn about Computer Aided Design (CAD) and stop motion animation.
Councillor Jeff Watson, Cabinet Member for Culture, Heritage and Libraries, said: “As well as getting the pupils to think about Ashington as more than just the place they live in the project taught vital STEM skills while looking at the possibilities for the town.
“Ashington is currently undergoing a £30 million regeneration and the project links closely to the aims of that regeneration – giving the children a sense of ownership and pride.
“The pupils used their imaginations to build some very creative 3-D models of buildings they’d like to see in the future, and who knows, in 25 years time one of them might be drawing up plans to do just that.
“By understanding more about the town, they would feel invested in it and want to do their best for the town now and in the future.”
Northumberland County Council’s regeneration scheme will generate economic growth, improve cultural and leisure facilities and boost visitor numbers.
Cllr Watson said: “This is an ambitious scheme that will transform the town. There will be a new cinema and restaurants in Portland Park, Wansbeck Square and the ‘Grand Corner’ will be redeveloped, along with a new station to service the reopening Northumberland Line.
“It underlines to the young people how the Council is improving not only their physical surroundings and quality of life but also their future prospects.”
*The Ashington to the Future project was funded by The Platten Family Fund at the Community Foundation for Tyne & Wear and Northumberland. Technology entrepreneur and philanthropist, Tony Platten, founder of the Platten Family Trust, is passionate about working with young people in STEM and engineering. The Northumberland Archives Charitable Trust applied for and oversaw the project.