Reaseheath burgers get top marks for taste

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Innovative burgers made by food technology students from Reaseheath College in Nantwich have won bronze awards in the first round of the EBLEX ‘England’s Best Burger Challenge’

The recipes for the minted lamb and chilli beef burgers were designed by Level 3 Diploma in Food Technology and Management students as part of their studies in meat science. The burgers were then made by Foundation Level 1 Food Preparation and Cooking students.

EBLEX represents the beef and lamb industry in England and runs the prestigious competition biannually as part of its campaign to boost quality and innovation. The aim is to find the most succulent, tender and tasty burgers in the country.

The contest is open to any catering or butchery establishment and this year attracted record entries from throughout England. This was the first time that Reaseheath had submitted an entry.  The students had to follow strict guidelines and control measures and the burgers were tested in raw and cooked form.

Butchery lecturer Doug Ewen, who oversaw and submitted the entries, said: “This was a fantastic result for the students as there is no guarantee that you will receive any award, especially on the first attempt. It was an excellent achievement which the student can add to their CVs and which will help them as they progress into their chosen careers.”

Competition organiser Hugh Judd, EBLEX Food Service Project Manager, said: “The quality of entries this year was very high. Reaseheath students did extremely well, particularly as they were competing against entries from the whole of the burger sector.” 

Reaseheath is launching a new Level 2 Diploma in Professional Butchery course, aimed at school leavers, in September. The college’s Food Centre is one of the best equipped food processing teaching and practical facilities in Europe. Built to industry standards and staffed by a team of specialist food technologists, the £7.3million facilities include a butchery production area.

Find out more about our new Butchery course here.

Reaseheath College building dedicated to visionary governor

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Reaseheath College’s newest halls of residence have been officially dedicated to the man who helped to make the college a leader in vocational training.

Platt Hall has been named in memory of John Platt OBE, the former chair of the Nantwich college’s Board of Governors, who died two years ago at the age of 82. John was Chair of governors for 14 years and a governor for 20 years, during which time he spearheaded over £50m of capital investment on campus

Platt Hall, the latest new build to be completed, opened to students in September. The £6 million building, which has 150 en suite bedrooms including special provision for students with disabilities, bring the total of student rooms on campus to 685.

Construction of the next project, an £8.5 million national centre for horticulture and environmental management, starts shortly.

Describing John as a visionary and inspirational leader, Chair of Governors Emily Thrane said: “John was a true gentleman and a lovely person. He left an enormous legacy at Reaseheath and his spirit will remain in these wonderful facilities. John planted seeds and ensured his vision would endure by giving us self belief and perseverance. He also inspired great loyalty from everyone who worked with him.”

A plaque was unveiled by John’s daughter, Joanna Lomas, and an oak tree germinated by Reaseheath’s horticulturists was dedicated by his son Jeremy Platt.  The building was blessed by the Rev Peter Mascarenhas.

Joanna, of Tarvin, said: “Platt Hall is very impressive. Dad would have been so proud.”

In addition to his support of Reaseheath, John ran a dairy farm at Lostock Gralam and was a leading light in Cheshire’s agricultural community. He was Chairman of Cheshire Agriculture Society for almost 30 years and played a leading role in running the Cheshire Show.

His legacy lives on in the John Platt Travel Scholarship, which enables young people in Cheshire’s agricultural and land based industries to widen their experience through travel.

RHES fundraise for Crocodiles of the World

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Since the Reaseheath Herpetological & Entomological Society was founded in 2010, one of our main objectives has been to fundraise for an annually chosen charity.  Last year we raised over £500 for North Wales Raptor & Rescue, a facility in North Wales that cares for abandoned reptiles and birds of prey. This year we set our sights on supporting the charity Crocodiles of the World.

Crocodiles of the World is a facility based in Oxfordshire and is the only crocodilian specialist zoo in the country. The zoo boasts 13 species of crocodilian as well as a large number of other reptile species. RHES originally visited their first establishment in Crawley and were thoroughly impressed with the facilities and the level of passion and dedication demonstrated by the staff.RHES Crocodiles of the World 2

Pete Brassington - head shave fundraiser

Pete Brassington – head shave fundraiser

In late 2012, Crocodiles of the World announced that they were moving facilities and were in need of donations to be able to make the new facilities the best they could be. RHES members and supporters organised a number of events to raise money for Crocodiles of the World. Events included; cakes sales, our annual sponsored “Leap of Faith” – in which members ascended on a 40ft pole leapt off a tiny platform into thin air with the aim of hitting a target, a talk from the crocodilian specialist Colin Stevenson and a head shave from Pete Brassington – raising in excess of £250 from his brave feat!

RHES "leap of faith"

RHES “Leap of Faith”

In total RHES raised £1008.8 for Crocodiles of the World, an amazing total and a testament to the hard work of all the fundraisers.

 

Shaun Foggett, founder of Crocodiles of the World heard of the RHES fundraising efforts and invited members visit Crocodiles of the World to present the money in person. RHES members were given a private tour of the new facility, now based in Brize Norton. As an extra special thanks from Shaun and the team, RHES were treated to a crocodilian handling session, where they got hands-on with some juvenile crocodiles, alligators and caiman.

A huge thank you to all the RHES members, anyone who supported the fundraising events throughout the year and the staff at Crocodiles of the World, who continue to be as passionate and hard-working as ever. A extra special thanks is to made to Lauren and Joe who made all of this possible.

Want to keep up-to-date with what the RHES are up to? Like Reaseheath Herpetological & Entomological Society (RHES) on Facebook.

If you would like to visit, learn more about or donate to Crocodiles of the World visit their website: www.crocodilesoftheworld.co.uk.

Reaseheath Herpetological & Entomological Society

 

 

RHES Crocodiles of the World

Bumper crowds enjoy Reaseheath College Festival

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Devils Horsemen Daniel Naprous and his black stallion perform.

Devils Horsemen Daniel Naprous and his black stallion perform.

Bumper crowds flocked to Reaseheath College on Sunday to join in the college’s annual Family Festival.

Thousands of visitors spent the day at the college’s Nantwich campus, enjoying the warm sunshine and carnival atmosphere.

Headline acts included a daring display of trick riding by The Devil’s Horsemen stunt team and displays by Titan, a giant robot whose latest appearances include the opening of the Winter Olympics at Sochi. Both acts had returned to Reaseheath due to popular demand.

Families also had the chance to see a replica of Bloodhound SSC, the supersonic car which will attempt a 1,000mph land speed record in 2016. The car was part of a technology theme running through the festival and had a simulator so that visitors could experience the thrill of driving the fastest car on earth.

Titan meets the crowd

Titan meets the crowd

Another world record was attempted during the day when 300 visitors got down and boogied on Reaseheath’s lawn to ‘Oops Upside Your Head’. The evidence is still under scrutiny, but it is hoped that the dance will earn Reaseheath a place in the Guinness Book of Records. The challenge was masterminded by members of Reaseheath’s Student Association to raise money for the college’s RAG (raising and giving) appeal, which this year goes to St Luke’s Cheshire Hospice.

The World War I was a supporting theme of the festival, with Reaseheath Food Centre putting on a WWI field kitchen and displays by North Staffordshire Military Vehicle Trust and Cheshire Land Rover Club.  The Devil’s Horsemen team brought an original WWI canteen carriage, which was paraded round the college grounds pulled by two draft horses.

BBC Radio Stoke presenter James Watt with Bloodhound SSC

BBC Radio Stoke presenter James Watt with Bloodhound SSC

The many other highlights included a calf show which was won by Level 3 Extended Diploma in Agriculture student Becky Harper with fellow student Harley Sneyd as Reserve Champion. Families also enjoyed sheep shearing, a farmers’ and craft market, student horse riding displays, tours of the college’s zoo, a fun dog show, a tea garden and demonstrations ranging from tree climbing and chainsaw use to butchery and cheese making.

The many ‘have a go’ activities included the chance to try archery, climb the college’s indoor wall and tackle the high ropes course.

The Voice contestant Joe Keegan

The Voice contestant Joe Keegan

The main stage hosted guest artists including Celtica Irish Dancing, ‘The Voice’ contestant Joe Keegan and local band Hex. Younger visitors enjoyed an old time funfair games, miniature train rides, face painting and local ice cream.

Reaseheath family festival has been running for over 20 years and is one of a number of college events to attract a growing number of visitors from the region. A recent independent economic assessment revealed that Reaseheath contributes around £85.7 million in additional income per year to the local business community.

Said Principal Meredydd David: “Once again the Reaseheath team delivered a fabulous family festival for thousands of people. In my opinion it was the best ever festival and a phenomenal success, allowing our visitors to celebrate with us what’s best about Reaseheath.

“As well as being a shop window for the skills of our students, the festival also makes a fantastic contribution to our local community and has become a not to be missed event for many people.”

 

  • Bloodhound SSC, accompanied by its education team, has remained at Reaseheath this week and is being visited by 120 pupils from local schools each day. On Saturday 24th May the car will feature in the launch of the Cheshire Science Festival, which runs until June 1st and aims to encourage more pupils into science, technology, engineering and maths.

 

Young entrepreneurs impress with their business idea

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Future business leaders from Reaseheath won an amazing four awards in this year’s Young Enterprise competition with their quirky idea to recycle glass bottles by turning them into household items.

Aptly named ‘New Generation’, the Level 3 Diploma in Business Studies students attracted praise for their idea of converting used glass bottles into candle holders, flower vases, pen pots and sweet holders. They won awards for the best overall company and for the best trade stand in the Cheshire East leg of the competition and went on to collect two more for innovation and creativity at the county stage.

The team organised a display, prepared a presentation and took sales orders from staff and students, families, friends and local outlets to prove that their business was financially viable.

Said Managing Director Shannon Tew: “The competition was very exciting and we learned a lot about running a real business. The judges gave us some really good comments and tips.”

Business Studies lecturer Julie Boulton added: “I’m very proud of the way the team worked together to come up with an attractive product and produce a business plan. Their presentation was excellent and they did really well to get as far as they did.”

The annual Young Enterprise competition encourages business talent in young people. Reaseheath business students regularly take part in competitions, visit companies and go on study tours to increase their industry and commercial experience.

 

Chancellor applauds plans for cutting edge Food Futures Centre

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George Osborne cuts the first sod for the National Centre for Food Futures and the Environment, watched by Reaseheath Principal Meredydd David, MP Stephen O’Brien, MEP candidate Kevin Beaty and Martin Smout, executive chairman of construction partner GB Building Solutions.

George Osborne cuts the first sod for the National Centre for Food Futures and the Environment, watched by Reaseheath Principal Meredydd David, MP Stephen O’Brien, MEP candidate Kevin Beaty and Martin Smout, executive chairman of construction partner GB Building Solutions.

Chancellor George Osborne has congratulated Reaseheath College’s efforts to help food producers meet the challenge of world population growth and climate change.

Cutting the first sod on the site of a £8.5 million National Centre for Food Futures and the Environment, Mr Osborne said: “Reaseheath College is rightly renowned for the quality of the education it provides, especially in the agriculture industry. I always want to try to provide funding for projects like this.

“One of the key elements of our long-term economic plan is to deliver the best schools and skills for young people  in all sectors so the next generation can succeed in the global race.”

The Chancellor chats to members of the Reaseheath’s Student Association.

The Chancellor chats to members of the Reaseheath’s Student Association.

The industry-led project will enable the Nantwich, Cheshire, college to support the government’s agri-tech strategy, which aims to make the UK a world leader in agricultural technology, innovation and sustainability. The Department for Business Innovation and Skills, through the Skills Funding Agency, has allocated £5.8m of capital grant for the project.  The remainder has come directly from the college.

The building will provide a national centre for horticultural production, environmental management and conservation and renewable energy, and will be the leading one of its type in the country. It will include a visitor and interpretation centre and a schools unit and is the latest of a string of world class facilities to be built on campus.

In a second project, the college, in partnership with Cheshire East Council, is to develop a state-of-the-art centre for students with learning difficulties and disabilities. This £1.5m project, funded by the Education Funding Agency, will develop desperately needed specialist facilities for students from the Cheshire East area.

Both developments are to be sited on the former college golf course. The buildings have been designed with considerable input from industry advisors and are planned to be open for students and the public by September 2015.

George Osborne chats to arboriculture students.

George Osborne chats to arboriculture students.

The college also intends to reconstruct its existing turf based sports pitches and build new 3G and multi-use artificial sports areas. A sports centre for use by both students and the local community is also planned. This will cater for grass based team sports and sports requiring an artificial playing surface such as hockey, as well as offering  a six court sports hall, team changing facilities and a fitness centre.

Space released by the relocation of the horticulture department has been earmarked for further halls of residence, with construction planned to start this summer.
 

Vice Principal Dave Kynaston, George Osborne, Stephen O'Brien

George Osborne with Reaseheath Vice Principal Dave Kynaston and MP Stephen O’Brien.

Welcoming the Chancellor’s visit, Principal Meredydd David said that Reaseheath was delighted to be involved in the development of another world class educational facility.

He said: “I am thrilled that the government has identified Reaseheath as their preferred location for investing capital to develop this national Food Futures Centre. This will ensure that Reaseheath can continue to deliver specialist technical and educational training to next generation leaders.”

Mr Osborne was accompanied on his visit by local MP Stephen O’Brien and  MEP candidate for the north west Kevin Beaty.
 
 
 
 

Family Festival…just over a week away!

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Alright guys,

We have a big day coming up on the 18th May with the College’s annual Family Festival. We will have a RAG stall selling t-shirts, doing face-painting and decorating gingerbread men. In addition to these activities we will be attempting to break a World Record. We need over 250 people to take part in ‘Oops Upside Your Head’, hopefully aiming to raise a minimum of £250.

Summer Ball theme has now been decided, we are going for a festival theme. The dress code is still as normal with it being a black tie event. The menu choice is currently being negotiated between the catering staff and the Student Association.

The SA will be carrying on with their fundraising over the coming weeks. We have Open Farm Sunday on the 8th June, the same weekend that the three peaks challenge will be taking place. We also have 1000 engine rally and Cheshire Show leading up to summer so RAG is definitely not over yet.

Check in next week for another update.

Sam Norfolk
SA President

Oops upside your head

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Alright guys,

First of all I’d like to welcome back all students from their Easter break, and say that it is not long now till the end of term so can I urge all students to keep going academically. It’s now the business end of the year, what happens next counts towards your future!

Just before we broke up a lot of students took part in our activities for RAG week and managed to raise £900 and with a very generous donation from Meredydd we can say our RAG week total was £1000. This does not mean that fundraising is over, it’s the opposite in fact. Let it serve as a reminder to keep supporting us so we can get as close to our £10,000 target as possible.

We are now looking forward to our RAG social which is going to be on the 8th May from 8pm. The theme is going to be UV Rave and all money raised is going to be donated to RAG, there will be people offering UV face and body paint on entry for a donation.

Sunday 18th May is our annual Family Festival, during this day we will see an estimate of over 10,000 people visit the college on this day, which puts us in good stead for our World Record attempt. We need over 250 people to join us for “Oops Upside Your Head”. We are hoping to raise a minimum of £250 by doing this event and all proceeds go to our RAG charity, St Luke’s Cheshire Hospice.

Check in next week for another update

Sam Norfolk
SA President

Cheshire County Show 2014

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Reaseheath College will be celebrating the launch of Reaseheath Alumni Association at this year’s Cheshire County Show – 17th & 18th June 2014.

Reaseheath Alumni Association for former students and staff has been created to re-connect former students with the College and fellow classmates. Cheshire County Show  is the first time Reaseheath Alumni Association will be getting out ‘on the road’ promoting Reaseheath Alumni Association and we would love you to join us!

Come and see our Alumni Officer Katie Burt at Reaseheath stand R1 and register for FREE alumni membership. Look out for Reaseheath Alumni Association in the Cheshire County Show Programme (we’re on the left-hand page just before the main showground map) – there’s a preview below!

Contact Katie on 01270 613219 or alumni@reaseheath.ac.uk .

Reaseheath alumni advert

Mr and Mrs Evans – What a Reaseheath Romance!

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Alumni Lorraine and J Graham nuttingknittingnanna Engagement May 1980 for newsletter

Reaseheath alumnus Lorraine Evans contacted Reaseheath Alumni Association after a recent visit to our annual Live Lambing event. We were delighted to hear some fantastic news from Lorraine along with a selection of recollections from her time at the Cheshire College of Agriculture.

Lorraine Newton on her MA graduation day with husband Graham Newton, 14th March 2014.

Lorraine Evans on her MA graduation day with husband Graham Evans, 14th March 2014.

Former Reaseheath student Lorraine Evans (nee Boydell) recently celebrated her 33rd wedding anniversary to husband and fellow former student Graham Evans. Lorraine and Graham met whilst both studying at the College 1979-1980. Whist Lorraine studied for her OND in Food Technology partner Graham trained in Dairy Herd Management. Living on campus the couple’s romance blossomed and as a result were engaged to marry on the 15th May 1980. The engagement was an extra special surprise for Lorraine, as this also marked her 19th birthday!

To this day, Lorraine and Graham remain as happy as the day they met as students at Reaseheath. On the 14th March 2014 the couple celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary. The very same day saw Lorraine graduate with an MA in Education from University of Chester.

Lorraine commented: “I am very proud to have completed my Masters as it was a particularly challenging venture. Graham has wholeheartedly supported me throughout the process and, without him by my side, I would not have been able achieve this.  The fact that our wedding anniversary fell on the same day as my graduation made it an extra special celebration for both of us”.

Since leaving the College the couple have gone on to pave successful careers. Lorraine currently works in education with the Virtual School in Cheshire West and Chester and Graham is a bus driver based in Chester.

 

If you have a story you would like to share on our website, please contact Reaseheath’s Alumni Officer Katie  Burt.