College 'saves' Youth Project

South Devon College ‘save’ European Youth Project

South Devon College stepped in at the last minute to ‘save’ a German Skills Exchange Youth Project that was in danger of coming to an abrupt end before it even started.

The College’s Marine Engineering Section, based at Noss Marina on the River Dart, worked with Transition Town Totnes – who also deliver professional education programmes around the River Dart – to help arrange for six German and Eastern European students to work with four new South Devon College Noss Marine Engineering Cadet Apprentices for a week to build a boat as part of their youth work project.

The German youth work project, with Siberian Links, included students from Germany, Russia, Slovakian and Ukraine. They were let down at the last hour by a College up country, and South Devon College – via Transition Town Totnes – offered them a similar package to make sure their first visit to England wasn’t a letdown. At Noss Marina they worked in the College’s Marine Engineering specialist boat-building facility to build a wooden canoe from scratch – and with the help of the College Noss Marine Engineering Cadet Apprentices completed it in just four days.

“We have taken part in similar projects in Germany, but it was our first time in England and we really liked it,” said Constantine Milash, the youth work project leader from Siberia, “It’s the best workshop we’ve ever had the pleasure of building a canoe in. There is a really strong boat-building spirit in the area and the South Devon College apprentices we worked with had so much experience. They we’re great to work with and very useful to have on the team. It was a fantastic experience sharing our knowledge and boat building techniques with them and, if invited, we’ll definitely come back.”

This view was echoed by the South Devon College Noss Marine Engineering Cadet Apprentices who worked with them.

“They build boats completely different to us so it was a good experience to build one together and learn the different techniques from each other,” said cadet Apprentice Tom Hopper, “They didn’t use a single piece of glue on the canoe, only used little copper tacks, and we helped the resin dry overnight in our specialist workshops, a process they said would have taken them a month to complete. It was a really good exchange of skills and we all got on very well, despite the language barrier. They have even invited us over to volunteer with them in a Siberian Nature Reserve!”

“It was an outstanding opportunity to build future links for our learners and it was fantastic that they all got on so well and developed traditional skills whilst building really good relationships,” said Steve Caunter, Head of Marine Engineering at South Devon College, who presented the overseas learners with certificates following their project, “We were really pleased we were able to save their visit and give them such a good skills-sharing experience.”