A coastal college has celebrated the achievements of staff, students and their community involvement despite the challenges of the pandemic.

East Coast College has signed off the 2020/21 academic year, with the college’s annual review presented at an end of year celebration on Friday, July 9.

Key community milestones were marked as the college’s progress over the past 18 months in developing its curriculum, delivering student success, progression and wellbeing, supporting its people and improving the business was set out.

Great Yarmouth Mercury: East Coast College.East Coast College. (Image: LEADERBOARD_PHOTOGRAPHY)

Highlights included staff and students donating food and PPE supplies throughout the pandemic, as well as volunteering to bake cakes and make scrubs for the NHS, six Project Search students from the college taking on roles at the James Paget University Hospital, while over £2,000 and 600 items was donated to the Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth foodbanks to help those in need.

Principal Stuart Rimmer was named FE Leader of the Year at the 2021 Tes FE Awards and made an MBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list in June for services to education and community.

East Coast College’s Great Yarmouth campus was chosen as one of 16 colleges across England to benefit from a share of the £1.5 billion FE Capital Transformation Fund, with work due to start in January 2022.

The college closed off the academic year just a couple of months away from the launch of a new campus - Lound Civil Engineering Centre – which will open to students this summer.

A further project is planned in an exciting bid to create The New Anglia Institute of Technology (NA-IoT) to be delivered across Norfolk and Suffolk.

Mr Rimmer MBE said: “This year will stand as one of the most unusual academic years on record.

"But everyone at East Coast College should be very proud of how resilient they have been.

"We are a college that embraces opportunity, strives for excellence and are committed to deliver transformation for Great Yarmouth and Waveney.”

Following East Coast College’s end of year celebration, 300 members of staff spent the afternoon volunteering as part of the #GoodforMEGoodforFE community action initiative.

Activities included helping out at Pathways Care Farm, working on a campsite to support people with autism, building bird boxes for local schools, baking cakes for Covid volunteers, making planters for local care homes, litter picking and making worry dolls for the James Paget University Hospital.