Buckinghamshire College Group are proud to announce the recent launch of the Bucks Green Energy Skills Hub.
In partnership with Daikin and Quantum Group, Buckinghamshire College Group have launched the opening of a new training facility for heat pump engineers in hopes of closing the green skills gap within Buckinghamshire, and also assisting the government in becoming net zero by 2050. Funded by the Local Skills Improvement Fund, the training hub will be used to upskill construction and engineering workforces in the county; giving more people within the sector the training needed to install low carbon technologies.
The Bucks Green Energy Skills Hub, based at the Aylesbury Campus has eleven bays that will be available to students aged 16-18 on a full-time study programme and those over 19 who are already in employment looking to upskill or retrain. The Hub includes live working bays, student installation bays and fault-finding bays all filled with low carbon technology including Heat Pumps, EV Chargers, Solar and battery storage.
Matt Cappell, Faculty Director of Construction and Technology said "Having this facility built at Buckinghamshire College Group is a fantastic opportunity. It demonstrates our commitment to being at the forefront of developing a greener curriculum and helping local stakeholders improve their businesses to be more environmentally friendly. The facility will enhance current learners' courses with additional training, offers supplementary qualifications to apprentices, and provides existing renewables engineers with opportunities to stay updated with industry advancements. It will also help local plumbing and gas engineers upskill to become renewables engineers. I want to thank Quantum and Daikin for supporting the College with the installation."
On the evening of Tuesday 21st May, local organisations were invited to attend the Grand Opening of the Bucks Green Energy Skills Hub. The evening began with a welcome from Principal and CEO of Buckinghamshire College Group, Jenny Craig. This was followed by presentations from Buckinghamshire Council, Fairhive Homes, Hepplethwaite and Bucks College Group Faculty Director of Construction and Technology, Matthew Cappell.
The evening concluded with the official opening and cutting of the ribbon by Deputy Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, Ruth Farwell CBE DL.
Buckinghamshire College Group would like to send a thank you to all the companies that attended the Bucks Green Energy Skills Hub Launch both presenters, stall holders and visitors. Special thanks goes to Diakin, Quantum Group, Buckinghamshire Council, Buckinghamshire Business First, Heppelthwaite, Fairhive Homes, GivEnergy, MCS, Viessmann, Mitsubishi Electric, UK Sol, EWI Pro and Enphase.
