Former staff and students at City of Wolverhampton College shared their memories of the Paget Road campus at a special lunch party at the site.
Professor Martin Levermore MBE, deputy lieutenant of the West Midlands, joined a dozen ex-staff and students at the college’s Further Education Big Lunch – part of The Big Lunch initiative which celebrates the contributions of local community and voluntary organisations.
The guests are members of the college’s Paget Road heritage group which was set up to capture memories of people who have worked and studied at the site since it opened in 1962, before it closes later in the year when the college’s new City Learning Quarter campus opens in Wolverhampton city centre.
Around 30 guests tucked in to a buffet lunch, watched video interviews with former staff and students, looked at an exhibition of old photographs, equipment and memorabilia, and viewed a display of images of the new state-of-the-art city centre campus.
Louise Fall, principal and chief executive of the college, said: “As we look forward to the opening of the new City Learning Quarter campus later this year, it’s important that we also look back to where it all began in 1962 and recognise the history of the Paget Road campus and the significant contribution it has made to the education of thousands of students, apprentices and staff over the last 63 years.
“We were delighted to welcome back some of our former staff and students to thank them for their contributions to the heritage project and to hear their memories of college life, the friends they made and the impact it had on their lives.”
The lunch was also attended by representatives from local organisations which work in partnership with the college, including Cannock Road Gurdwara, Low Hill Community Association, African Carribean Community Initiative, Department of Work and Pensions, Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and City of Wolverhampton Council.
