Pictured: Mechanical engineering students from South Eastern Regional College’s Bangor campus John McCoubrey, Daniel Carr, Curtis Higgins and Tom Kinder who have worked tirelessly throughout the summer to design and construct hockey nets for Lisnagarvey Hockey Club in Hillsborough as part of their studies. The students are pictured with SERC team leaders Michael Warnock and William Henderson.

As part of their commitment to working with the local community, enthusiastic mechanical engineering students from South Eastern Regional College (SERC) have worked tirelessly throughout the summer to design and construct hockey nets for Lisnagarvey Hockey Club in Hillsborough as part of their studies.

The students who study the level 2 training for success qualification designed, fabricated and constructed six bespoke hockey nets for the Club which were recently installed at their new home.

SERC Project Leader William Henderson who assisted the students throughout the two-week project explains: “As the trainees do not have an employer, community projects such as this allow the students to gain the additional skills they need to get the career they want. Therefore, students still get the much needed industry experience which is vital when seeking employment.”

As the students began working on the project, they realised it would be more challenging than first thought. Throughout the project the students ensured a high level of accuracy to detail was put in and used specialist skills to the best of their ability.

David Henderson, Facilities Supervisorat Lisnagarvey Hockey Clubcould barely disguise his delight at the quality and craftsmanship of the nets when they were unveiled. He said “It is a true work of craft, skills and art. We would not have had the funding to undertake this work by ourselves, we really can’t thank the students enough. I would like to thank the College and Billys team who have worked tirelessly throughout the summer to build these bespoke nets to our specific needs. They really do look amazing and the quality of the work that has gone into them is evident. Everything has been hand crafted and finished to the highest standard of craftsmanship.”

SERC provides a range of apprenticeships designed to give students ‘the edge’. To find out how SERC can help you ‘get the edge’ call 0345 600 7555, visit www.serc.ac.uk or find us on Facebook, search: SERC.