Media students help spearhead Mansfield's bid for government funds

Students interviewing Mansfield mayor Andy Abrahams at the train station for the final film

The Making Mansfield Place Board has recently outlined plans for how up to £25 million of potential funding could be spent on transforming the area.

If the bid is a success it means work can begin on some high priority improvement projects, which come under five key themes for improvement – town centres, skills and growth, transport and connectivity, health and wellbeing, and identity and brand.

Up to 13 projects have been identified by the board, which is made up of representatives from a wide range of partner organisations.

A decision on the Towns Fund is expected in January 2021 and further work will then be done to draw up plans before the final projects are delivered between 2022 and 2026.

In October students from the diploma in creative digital media production (film and television) at the college were approached by Mansfield District Council to create a video to support the funding bid application to the Government.

Students Joe Derbyshire, Thomas Crosby, Joshua Evans, Liam Marriott, Joshua Rosindell and Joe Gardner worked professionally with their tutor Michael Rhodes and their learning company specialist for design and media, Tony Hall to film and edit all the content ready for the council to use within their bid for the funding.

The group filmed on location in the district across three days and interviewed a number of key figures, including college chief executive Andrew Cropley and Mansfield mayor Andy Abrahams.

Joe said: “It felt great to be involved in this project as it gave me and the crew a feeling of satisfaction knowing that it would be used outside of college in a professional setting.

“The feedback I got for my editing was good and it felt like our work was appreciated.

“It's great that we're getting more and more opportunities like this which we can put on our CVs and showreels.”

Coun Abrahams said: “The students were incredibly professional and the finished video is exactly what we were aiming to achieve.

"Hopefully it’s given them practical experience that will help them in their careers.”