Derby’s street furniture is getting an eye-catching makeover. Striking new benches have appeared in the city centre Market Place and other areas – and they’ve all been created by young people.
They’ve been working with Engineered Learning, an alternative education provider which empowers young people aged 14 to 16 to develop engineering skills in an authentic workshop setting.
The young engineers, who have now left school, have designed and made a number of bespoke benches which have been installed across the city. The two bench designs in the Market Place include features which put the city on the map, like Rolls-Royce’s turbine engines, EMR’s new Aurora train and the Silk Mill.
The project has been funded by the Home Office Safer Streets programme, which is aimed at making areas more welcoming so residents feel safer. It has enabled Engineered Learning to work with vulnerable 15 and 16 year olds, providing accredited training so they can gain NCFE awards, and valuable skills, in fabrication and welding.
Dan Read, Managing Director of Engineered Learning, said:
We were very proud to be involved in the Safer Streets Project.
The social return of projects like this are immense. We are giving young people the skills they need to take into the workplace, and this supports their social and economic mobility which has a positive impact on their families and the local community.
We’ve also discovered that when young people manufacture for their own communities, there’s a downturn in anti-social behaviour such as vandalism. Schools benefit too, as they report massive improvements in classroom behaviour.
Our mission is to enable all of our students to work on Derby City Council projects because we know that this will have a huge positive impact for Derby.
Young people at Engineered Learning celebrate their training success
Councillor Hardyal Dhindsa, Cabinet Member for Communities and Streetpride, said:
This has been an excellent project, developing new skills and interests for young people who need opportunities beyond mainstream school while adding something special to our public spaces for all the community to enjoy.
The benches look stunning. For those talented young engineers, it must be so rewarding to see them in our streets and think, ‘I made that!’
Derby City Council was successfully awarded nearly £750,000 of funding as part of round four of the Home Office Safer Streets Fund, which funds initiatives aimed at reducing neighbourhood crime, anti-social behaviour and improving the safety of public spaces for all.
As well as Engineered Learning, the Council is working with various local partners to deliver a range of schemes, including police colleagues, Down to Earth Derby, Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Community One and Keep Britain Tidy.