Specialist college is celebrating cash boost

A specialist college is celebrating a multi-million pound Government funding boost to develop a new state-of-the-art teaching and learning facility.

East Durham College’s Houghall Campus - on the outskirts of Durham City - is one of 16 colleges in England to get cash from the Government’s £1.5bn Further Education Capital Transformation Fund.

The Houghall campus specialises in teaching landbased studies like agriculture, animal welfare, land and wildlife management, veterinary nursing and equine skills.

Suzanne Duncan, college principal and chief executive, said: “We are all absolutely thrilled at this amazing news. It’s obviously been an incredibly hard year for the education sector, and of course the whole of the country, so this news is a fantastic boost for our brilliant students, hardworking staff and the region.”

Work to upgrade the 476-acre site began in 2016 with a £10m project to complete phase one of the redevelopment plans for the campus.

Ms Duncan said: “This capital funding award will enable us to complete phase two, with the building of a brand new teaching and learning block that will also include a new science labs, higher education centre, library, refectory and gym.

“Houghall has seen its student numbers grow massively over the last decade and the importance of the land based skills and training we provide are vital to the future growth and prosperity of our region.

"This new development will help secure that future and continue to grow our higher level technical skills provision in fantastic new facilities.”

For more details on the campus, go to www.eastdurham.ac.uk/houghall_campus