Gower College has risen from the ashes

LAST week we opened our new library on Gower College Swansea’s Tycoch campus. It is just over 12 months since we had a major fire in the main teaching building there, with, at any one time, over 100 firefighters helping to control and then extinguish the fire.

Whilst it is difficult to forget the night itself, we know that in many regards we were very fortunate. The fire broke out in the middle of the night during the October half-term, so no-one was on site and, most importantly, no-one was hurt. Once the firefighters had confirmed that all the fire doors were closed and that the building’s structure was unaffected, they gained entry to the third floor – where the fire had broken out – and managed to put it out from inside the building, and for that we will always be grateful.

And finally, as in the weeks preceding the fire we had vacated most of the front of the campus in readiness for a rebuild, we were able to turn all of these empty offices and meeting rooms into temporary classrooms and, with the added help of some porta-cabins, we got all of our students back to college within a week, which was an amazing achievement.

One thing that we did learn from the incident was the pivotal role that a college of further education such as ours has in supporting our local communities. Within hours of the news, we had received phone calls from the local council, our partner schools, both of our local universities and FE colleagues from across Wales, as well as Welsh Government ministers and senior officers, offering a range of financial support, temporary accommodation and teaching materials to replace those that were covered in ash or water. It was a very humbling experience indeed for all of us and we are immensely grateful for all of this support.

At the opening last week, we took the opportunity to thank everyone who has worked so hard to get the whole of the building not just back to the condition it was but now far better, with new walls, carpets, ceilings and furniture. The library in particular is very different, with new desks and furniture and improved IT facilities, and this could not have been achieved without our college estates and IT teams and all of the contractors that have helped. But I also took the opportunity to thank all of the staff and students who have put up with temporary accommodation and the ongoing building work and have done this without complaints. This summer’s exams results, which showed a further improvement on the previous year, are evidence of everyone’s commitment and determination.

Looking forward to 2018, we will shortly be opening the new “front” to the campus, which incorporates student space, a coffee bar and facilities for our higher education students – a new development we had to put back three months to help us out in the short term. And with other building work due to commence shortly on both our Gorseinon and Kingsway campuses, it is very likely that the next six months will be as busy as the last year – but that’s probably quite common for all FE colleges. Mark Jones

Principal Gower College Swansea