Member Article

Solihull college to open its doors as a community venue

A new venture from The Sixth Form College, Solihull located at Widney Manor Road will enable local community groups to make use of its sports and performing arts facilities on evenings, weekends and during school holidays.

The College has joined forces with School Lettings Solutions (SLS) to open its doors and become a leisure venue for various activities, such as fitness classes, dance workshops and craft groups.

SLS partners with schools, academies and colleges to fully manage their facilities at zero cost to the organisations, while linking them with local community groups in need of affordable space.

The College is just a few minutes’ walk from Solihull town centre and will play host to activities such as Ju Jitsu and a dance academy. Local groups can now hire its facilities, which include dance and drama studios, a theatre, and a sports hall, for regular classes or ad hoc events.

It is hoped the partnership will open up new opportunities to the College’s students, as well as people of all ages from the local area.

Martin Sullivan, Principal of The Sixth Form College, Solihull, said: “We’re really excited to be opening the up the College to the wider community. We’re proud of the facilities we offer our students, such as our dance studio and fitness suite, and it makes sense to us that they are not lying unused on evenings and weekends. The fact that this will help us generate a new income stream will be hugely beneficial too.

“We’ve already got some great partners signed up to use our facilities and we’re looking forward to getting more on board. This can only be a positive thing for our students and people in the area.”

SLS currently works with more than 120 schools nationwide, helping them to make the best use of their facilities. It provides a fully managed service, including managing bookings and staffing the facilities to ensure rooms are secure and ready for the next school day. The business is expanding across the country and is looking to sign up schools in the West Midlands, which are currently facing hundreds of thousands of pounds of funding cuts.

Paul Andrews, director of SLS, said: “It’s great to welcome The Sixth Form College, Solihull as our latest partner. The College has got some brilliant facilities and we’ve already had lots of booking enquiries. We’re passionate about ensuring people have access to opportunities that boost their health and wellbeing, so we’re keen to provide local groups with marketing support to make sure their clubs thrive and are well attended”.

“There is huge potential to provide more places like this for people of all ages to come together, which will be really positive for the area. At the same time, our partnerships provide a new stream of income for schools as their budgets come under more and more pressure.”

To enquire about the facilities that are on offer, call 0121 514 8848 or email Solihullsixth@schoollettings.org

For more information or to book facilities at The Sixth Form College, Solihull visit http://solihullsixth.schoolbookings.co.uk/

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ursula Hutchinson .