Wednesday the 18th of September saw Blackpool and the Fylde College open the doors of its Bispham campus to B&FC students from all over the Fylde coast. The Partners for Success Barbecue greeted students with up-beat music, the opportunity to get glitter-art or glitter-hair, a magic show and the incredibly popular bull rodeo. 

Students were also encouraged to speak to lots of the service areas of B&FC including the Careers’ Team, and get to know the many facilities available to help them during their B&FC journey. 

"Our emphasis this year is getting everybody involved in sports,” said Dawn Quinlivan who was there promoting Sports Enrichment. 

Student participation was a particular focus of the Students’ Union this year, much of the incredible stands there being influenced by student feedback from last year’s Welcome Event. 

While the Welcome Event itself was largely shaped by students, its purpose has much more personal meaning to the Students’ Union Members. 

“We really promote events like this, getting involved in the College and these events, not only for the sake of the students’ CV’s, but also because its good for your mental health.” said Callum, the Students’ Union Sabbatical Officer and the man responsible for much of the fantastic events of the day.

“We really prioritise looking at mental health and asking ‘what can we do to help?’, creating a space where students can study and also participate in events. A healthy balance between study and play is really important, and we recognise that here at B&FC.”

Seeing swarms of students from across the Fylde coast coming together to enjoy the many activities put on for them was “absolutely fantastic, and we couldn’t be more proud to see so many smiling faces,” said Callum. Indeed, the results of Callum and the team’s hard work had been hugely successful with hundreds of students being welcomed with open arms. 

The 2019/20 academic year at Blackpool and the Fylde College has officially begun, and of the year ahead, Callum had the following to say:

“It really is the students that will make this year.  We have a fantastic team- the 2019/20 academic year is going to be better than ever.”