MORE than £1.5million is to be spent upgrading vital equipment at two Dorset colleges. The initiative set up by Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership is part of its commitment to improving skills and supporting key business sectors. Most of the funding, around £1.3m, will be used to support projects at Bournemouth and Poole College, and there is £250,000 for Weymouth College to fund a refurbishment of the its Higher Education Centre. Lorna Carver, Dorset LEP director, said: “This major skills investment is vital in supporting young people to achieve specialist qualifications in Dorset. “Investing in skills our local businesses need is essential to economic recovery following the impact of Covid-19 and in alignment with the Local Industrial Strategy.
WEYMOUTH College has been given a massive cash boost after being given a share of over £1.5 million. As part of a Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) cash scheme, Weymouth College has been given £250,000 in its bid to provide higher education learning to areas including Weymouth and Portland. College principal Nigel Evans said the money will be pumped into its mechanic and engineering programmes, and to provide a state-of-the-art centre of excellence for construction, as well as allowing a refurbishment of the centre. Mr Evans said: It s a massive boost for our electrical mechanics programmes. We ve been able to buy three electrical cars for our mechanics course, and upgrade our fleet of hybrid cars.