23 March 2007
Clifton-Brown "delighted" to add to facilities at leading education & training college.
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown today officially opened a new building at the Gloucestershire based National Star College. The building – named Cleeve – will provide specialist living and learning accommodation for students with severe disabilities at the College. Facilities within Cleeve include ten fully equipped ensuite study bedrooms with overhead tracking for wheelchair users linking bedrooms to bathrooms, an accessible kitchen/dining area, and laundry, to promote the development of students’ independent living skills in a realistic living and learning environment.
Mr Clifton Brown said: “As the local MP and Vice President of the College, I am delighted to have been asked to open the Cleeve Building. This new residence is a real boost to its facilities. The College is at the forefront nationally of providing some of the finest specialist training and education in the country. This training offers students the chance to develop as young adults, and gain the necessary confidence and skills to live as independently as possible.”
Helen Sexton, Chief Executive and Principal at the College said “The College is about to celebrate 40 years of improving the lives of disabled young people. Our students today have far more severe disabilities than they did 40 years ago and so we need to provide more specialist facilities. Cleeve has 10 specially equipped study bedrooms with en-suites that allow privacy and dignity for personal care. Some of the rooms have remote controlled windows, doors, curtains that the students can control from their wheelchairs; they can put on a CD or change channel on the TV. This equipment is a massive leap in independence for our students allowing them to make choices and control their immediate environment in a way that most of us would take for granted.”
Funds were raised for the building by the College with 50% of the cost coming from the Learning and Skills Council. The Big Lottery Fund gave a grant of £250,000 and a number of national trusts also lent their support. Many local donors responded to fundraising activities and the College is very grateful to all who made the building of Cleeve possible.
The National Star College is one of the South West’s largest charities and is a nationally recognised provider of specialist further education and training for young people and adults with physical disabilities or acquired brain injuries, with associated learning, behavioural, sensory or medical difficulties.
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown today officially opened a new building at the Gloucestershire based National Star College. The building – named Cleeve – will provide specialist living and learning accommodation for students with severe disabilities at the College. Facilities within Cleeve include ten fully equipped ensuite study bedrooms with overhead tracking for wheelchair users linking bedrooms to bathrooms, an accessible kitchen/dining area, and laundry, to promote the development of students’ independent living skills in a realistic living and learning environment.
Mr Clifton Brown said: “As the local MP and Vice President of the College, I am delighted to have been asked to open the Cleeve Building. This new residence is a real boost to its facilities. The College is at the forefront nationally of providing some of the finest specialist training and education in the country. This training offers students the chance to develop as young adults, and gain the necessary confidence and skills to live as independently as possible.”
Helen Sexton, Chief Executive and Principal at the College said “The College is about to celebrate 40 years of improving the lives of disabled young people. Our students today have far more severe disabilities than they did 40 years ago and so we need to provide more specialist facilities. Cleeve has 10 specially equipped study bedrooms with en-suites that allow privacy and dignity for personal care. Some of the rooms have remote controlled windows, doors, curtains that the students can control from their wheelchairs; they can put on a CD or change channel on the TV. This equipment is a massive leap in independence for our students allowing them to make choices and control their immediate environment in a way that most of us would take for granted.”
Funds were raised for the building by the College with 50% of the cost coming from the Learning and Skills Council. The Big Lottery Fund gave a grant of £250,000 and a number of national trusts also lent their support. Many local donors responded to fundraising activities and the College is very grateful to all who made the building of Cleeve possible.
The National Star College is one of the South West’s largest charities and is a nationally recognised provider of specialist further education and training for young people and adults with physical disabilities or acquired brain injuries, with associated learning, behavioural, sensory or medical difficulties.
