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NEW BRITAIN’S ENERGY COAST™ CAMPUS TO DELIVER LEARNING AND TRAINING EXCELLENCE

THE major development which will see the University of Cumbria coming to Lillyhall in West Cumbria has been officially titled ‘Britain’s Energy Coast™ Campus’.

The project’s name, announced today, was chosen to capture the strong connections between the aims of the project and the wider economic goals of West Cumbria and its ambition to become Britain’s Energy Coast™.

Britain’s Energy Coast™ Campus will see further and higher education partners, along side those in industry, coming together to create a centre of learning and training excellence in West Cumbria. This will play a major part in delivering the skills and qualifications needed to develop the area as Britain’s Energy Coast™ - a £2 billion package of regeneration projects which build on West Cumbria’s nuclear expertise to diversify into other types of low carbon energy production, such as off shore wind, tidal, wave, biomass and microgeneration.

Already working in collaboration to establish new educational facilities at Lillyhall, the University of Cumbria, Lakes College, Energus, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and Lancaster University are now aiming to establish an integrated campus of major institutions and facilities based in and around Lillyhall. It is anticipated that there will be an additional 2000 learners at Britain’s Energy Coast™ by 2016. Initial funding of £10m for the project has been committed by the NDA.

Professor Christopher Carr, Vice Chancellor at the University of Cumbria and Chair of Britain’s Energy Coast™ Campus Steering Group , said: “The University of Cumbria is committed to creating a new higher education facility at Lillyhall but we are striving to develop something more than this for West Cumbria, in the form of Britain’s Energy Coast™ Campus. The project will see all organisations coming together to create a real focal point for education, learning and industry training.”

Jamie Reed MP, Chair of the Joint Leaders Group which oversees the delivery of the Britain’s Energy Coast™ Masterplan , said: “The Energy Coast™ Campus at Lillyhall will play a significant role in West Cumbria’s goal to become the Energy Coast of Britain. It will bring more people from the area into higher education and will also see more employers ‘upskilling’ their workforces. This will ensure West Cumbria rises to the new economic demands and develops skills which are relevant to our local economy.”

Rob Rimmer, Director of Britain’s Energy Coast™ Campus project, said: “Our challenge is to create an education and training hub of real value, not only for students, but for employers and industries based in West Cumbria. This development will see £multi-million spending on infrastructure and facilities at Lillyhall, meaning a real investment for this part of the county, its future and its mission to become Britain’s Energy Coast™.”

Tony Cunningham MP, Vice Chair of the Joint Leaders Group : said: “The name really conjures up the right kind of strategic associations between this key development at Lillyhall and the importance it will play in the economic prosperity of West Cumbria. We now have a project which will see learning and training opportunities available on our doorstep and help us keep the key skills we need for the area to prosper.”

ENDS

Notes for editors

For more information on The Energy Coast Masterplan, please visit www.britainsenergycoast.com

University Biography

The University of Cumbria has more than 15,000 students at campuses and sites in Carlisle Ambleside, Penrith, Lancaster, Whitehaven, Barrow and London. It provides a wide range of degree courses in subjects including business, the arts, teaching, nursing, outdoor studies and sport, to name just a few.

The University also has strong links and close partnership working with the four FE Colleges in Cumbria (Lakes Colleges, Furness College, Carlisle College and Kendal College) to enable HE delivery locally across the county. In addition, the University is the lead institution of Cumbria Higher Learning, a Distributed Learning Network for Cumbria.

The University of Cumbria is a member of GuildHE. GuildHE is a recognised representative organisation within the higher education sector. Its members comprise higher education colleges, specialist institutions and some universities.

For further information contact: Lynn Clark, Corporate Communication and PR Manager on 01228 888713 or email lynn.clark@Cumbria.ac.uk