SERC win four awards in open college event

SERC win four awards in open college event

24 July 2024

SOUTH Eastern Regional College students and staff won four awards at the recent Open College Network Northern Ireland Learning Endeavour Awards at Titanic Belfast.

More than 350 learners, teachers, tutors and special guests 

celebrated the annual awards hosted by Denise Watson with guest speaker, Clodagh Dunlop MBE, giving an inspirational talk on her remarkable journey of overcoming ‘locked in’ syndrome following a stroke in 2015.

A total of £16,000 was awarded to learners and providers through learning bursaries from across the province including SERC student Daniel McCann from Downpatrick who completed the Be Your Own Boss enterprise programme.

The college’s deputy head of school and culinary arts lecturer, Paul Mercer, won the Inspiring Tutor/Teacher Award, with the culinary arts and hospitality team collecting the Advancing Learning Through Innovation Award for their Food Poverty Project.

College principal and chief executive, Ken Webb, said the awards success was a fantastic end to the academic year.  

“We are immensely proud of all the students and staff who were presented with Learning Endeavour Awards and of those students and teams who were shortlisted,” he said.

“Learning never stops and these awards highlight the importance of education and learning which is open to anyone at any time in their lives.”

Open College Network chief executive, Martin Flynn, said that once again it was able to provide a unique platform for learners to showcase their achievements.

He said sometimes this was achieved against impossible odds, with the awards providing recognition for the “tremendous commitment and determination” they have shown to achieve their respective qualifications.

Guest speaker, Clodagh Dunlop, recalled her remarkable story about how she overcame debilitating adversity following her stroke which story illustrated the powerful message of what can be achieved if you are determined enough to succeed.