A legacy of learning: 80 years of meeting skills demands

Gateshead College first opened its doors to students 80 years ago.

Today, it operates from four campuses, including its Baltic Campus, which stands a gentle incline away from the River Tyne.

Its automatic glass doors are very different from those of its original base in Durham Road.

And it’s hard to imagine what those young men and women, emerging and learning from postwar Britain, would have made of the colourful sofas and television screens on whitewashed walls showcasing reels of pupils past and present.

But the ethos, drive and ambition of Gateshead College remain the same, and the desire to welcome students through those doors – and see them walk out as stronger and more confident people – will never change.

The college’s roots date back to 1920s technical evening classes under the Durham Road Technical School and Technical Institute banners. Its story changed when Britain emerged from the Second World War.

Amid high demand for construction and manufacturing skills to help the country rebuild, Gateshead Technical College officially launched in 1945 as an apprenticeship pioneer.

It did so alongside Team Valley engineering firm Sigmund Pumps, the company founded by Czech-born entrepreneur and inventor Miroslav Sigmund, who moved to Gateshead with his family in 1938 to escape Nazi invaders.

The business made pumps and Bren gun parts for the war effort before turning its attention to Britain’s workforce when the conflict ended.

Working with the college, Miroslav – also known as Mirka – set up the Apprentice Training Scheme for boys aged 14 and over, with the provider’s first apprentices learning their trade as fitters, turners and toolmakers on evening and day release courses.

In many ways, Miroslav was ahead of his time, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise given the businessman and inventor had more than 50 patents to his name.

Throughout her life, his daughter Helen Sherlock, who remembers him affectionately as ‘Pa’, has met and befriended many of the apprentices who came through Gateshead College and went on to work for Sigmund Pumps for decades. She says: “His motivation initially was to expand the family business here and make it work, just as his brothers were sent to France, the US and Yugoslavia.

“To make it work, you need people, and he recognised you could do that through training people and offering them opportunities and some hope at what must have been an incredibly difficult time.

“And that’s when Pa’s common sense, philanthropy and kindness came through.

“He knew you get the best out of people if you treat them decently. “He created a family at home, and it sounds corny, but he created a family at work too.

“Everybody seemed to look out for each other and care for each other, there was always a feeling at the factory that ‘we’re in this together’, and he was like that all his life.

“I am so immensely proud of him and his legacy.”

Helen, who spent more than two decades accompanying her husband Nigel Sherlock in his Lord Lieutenant duties, is a frequent visitor to Gateshead College and has provided many historical documents outlining its connections to her family and Sigmund Pumps. And her Pa, who died aged 96 nearly 20 years ago, would be proud of the links the college still has with the region’s young people and businesses through its modern apprenticeship schemes.

Helen adds: “It’s brilliant what the college is doing and encouraging for employers who are giving young people opportunities and training; it’s invaluable for the next phase of their lives.”

For Gateshead College principal and chief executive David Alexander, the education provider has always enhanced the lives of its students and the local businesses who have become an integral part of the success of its apprenticeships.

David, who has been the head of the college for four years, has been able to build on the strong ties between the college and companies across the region.

He says: “The post-war period was not just about giving people technical skills, it was about helping them get back into society as well, fulfilling their potential positively and contributing to the country, so it could emerge from terrible circumstances.

“And that ethos of providing life skills, and responding to businesses skills needs, continues to run through everything we do at the college to this day.

“And that won’t change.

“It’s about the number of opportunities we can provide, the number of businesses we can support and the lives we can change – and having the courage to go out there and do it. “We want our students to be part of the community, to help that community thrive and fulfil their potential.”

One such modern-day student is Nimrah Sohail, a 19-year-old from Newcastle, who started a PlanBEE apprenticeship in September last year, and is currently working as an apprentice site manager for Sir Robert McAlpine, which has already given her experience of a placement with RPS.

The PlanBEE scheme is a collaboration between the college and more than 50 construction companies to develop a programme that acts as an alternative to university and prepares people for professional roles in architecture, engineering, building services and construction/site management.

And she says her eyes have been opened to the world of construction since she started the scheme. She says: “A lot of people in my family went down the science route, but I’ve always liked understanding how things work. “I’ve always been very curious and I like seeing the process and the end product.

“I had a vision to go into engineering, work as a woman in STEM and break down barriers,” says Nimrah, who is also a UK ambassador for the Nike-backed Alpine Run Project, which encourages young people to take part in a training programme before tackling Mont Blanc at the ultra-running UTMB World Series Race.

She adds: “I like research, I love the massive infrastructure projects I’ve worked on, but I am creative as well, and I am looking forward to working in the design aspect of the course.

“I find it really cool seeing the outcomes and being a part of that process, rather than just doing drawings and not being on-site while it’s happening.

“I’m still doing placements and there’s still time to figure out what it is I really want to do. “The college is really supportive; they come in on your placement, make sure you’re on target for year two and are there if you need anything.”

 

Gateshead College

To learn more about Gateshead College’s 80th anniversary, how it has responded to industry needs over the decades and its present-day courses, visit – www.gateshead.ac.uk