George Stephenson launches Made in Chesterfield 2015
Month long manufacturing festival aims to reach thousands of young people
Chesterfield Museum’s very own George Stephenson officially launched Made in Chesterfield 2015 at a special event on Tuesday 3 November.
The month long Made in Chesterfield festival aims to raise awareness of the town’s manufacturing and engineering sector to young people and schools in the hope they will consider a career in it. Last year more than 400 young people were introduced to the sector in just a week and this year organisers Destination Chesterfield are hoping to reach thousands during Made 2015.
As part of the celebrations schools from throughout North East Derbyshire, including Tupton Hall, The Bolsover School, Shirebrook Academy and Parkside School, will be visiting companies and training providers in the sector to gain hands-on experience.
At the launch Councillor Amanda Serjeant, vice chair of Destination Chesterfield and cabinet member for town centre and visitor economy at Chesterfield Borough Council, said: “Engineering has always played a major part in Chesterfield’s economy and these events show that this heritage is continuing today.
“Engineering companies are also at the forefront of work in the town to create apprentices to give young people high quality job opportunities.
“This festival is an opportunity to showcase all they do and raise awareness of the many different types of products being manufactured in the town.”
The museum is also hosting a special Made in Chesterfield Exhibition, celebrating the wide range of amazing and sometimes quirky products being made in Chesterfield both today and bygone days, including George Stephenson’s cucumber straightener.
As well as George Stephenson, Chesterfield is welcoming a number of high profile names from manufacturing and engineering during the festival, including Mantra – AMRC’s travelling showcase for advanced engineering, which pupils from across the county will be visiting at MSE Hiller.
A life size replica of Bloodhound, the vehicle which is Britain’s latest attempt to break the world land speed record, travelling at a speed of 1,000mph, will also be rolling into Chesterfield College for the festival.
The arrival of Bloodhound in Chesterfield has special significance for the town as local industrial weighing specialists Weightron Bilanciai Ltd, has supplied the weighing systems that have been use throughout the build of the project. The company is also supplying a system to measure the weight distribution through the wheels of the car, to allow the balancing of the vehicle.
Ivan Fomin, managing director of MSE Hiller and Destination Chesterfield board member responsible for manufacturing and engineering, said: “The support of companies in the sector is vital to the success of Made in Chesterfield. Manufacturing is the lifeblood of the economy, feeding other sectors such as retail and leisure, and its continuing success relies on today’s students considering it for a future career. Made in Chesterfield is designed to open their eyes to this and show them the varied job roles available and also how the sector has changed. However, we can only do this of companies come forward and actively get involved.”
Made in Chesterfield is organised by Destination Chesterfield in partnership with MSE Hiller, United Cast Bar Ltd, Natwest, Derbyshire Education Business Partnership, Chesterfield College, Derbyshire County Council, Chesterfield Borough Council, Placing Futures, NLT Training, UKTI, East Midlands Chamber, Institution of Mechanical Engineers and Positive 4 Young People.
To find out more about any of the Made in Chesterfield business events and to register to attend, please visit www.chesterfield.co.uk/made
