University Centre Wigan & Leigh College

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 🤝

Aimie Bamber was working as a carer and doing youth work at her church when someone suggested she'd make a great counsellor.

She joined the HND Counselling and Applied Psychology course, completing her placement hours at Daylight Counselling in Leigh.

💬 "Every teacher has been great and approachable. I’m dyslexic and they’ve printed things on coloured paper and changed the colour of screens to help me.”

Since coming to the end of her course, Aimee will continue to work for Daylight as an official counsellor and has been given full-time hours for children and youth services in Manchester Diocese.

Find out more about this course and others at one of our 𝐀𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 & 𝐄𝐧𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 next week.

📢 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰: https://www.wigan-leigh.ac.uk/life-at-college/events/

𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐲? 🫂
Build a meaningful career supporting others through counselling therapies.

Our industry expert tutors will support you to develop the core counselling skills and self-awareness needed to work confidently in this sector. 🙌

📣Find out more and speak directly to staff at one of our 𝐀𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 & 𝐄𝐧𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 this 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞.

- Tuesday 23 June, 4.30pm – 7.00pm, Wigan Adult Learning Centre
- Wednesday 24 June, 4.30pm – 7.00pm, Leigh Adult Learning Centre

📍 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰: https://www.wigan-leigh.ac.uk/life-at-college/events/

Today, we hosted our annual Higher Education Research Symposium at the Centre for Advanced Technical Studies. 🎓 📚

We were proud to welcome two keynote speakers: Engineering Manager Benjamin Fozard and our very own Business Lecturer, Dr Anthony M Dixon. Ben spoke about his career journey from engineering into leadership, sharing his experience across a range of roles, including consultancy and solutions architecture. Dr Anthony also discussed his career path, along with his research into nascent family firms and organisational identity construction.

It was fantastic to see the wide variety of research topics our students prepared and presented across every course offered at the University Centre

Congratulations to our Greater Manchester Institute of Technology Presentation of the Year winner, Emily Williams, whose project explored the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel for cancer treatment. 🏆

Congratulations to the University Centre Best Overall Contribution Award winners, Steffie Ramsdale, Jessica Parker, Estera Zuberniute and Daryl Martin, who presented their findings on Adverse Childhood Experiences and Play Pedagogy. 👏

A great effort also from our runners-up, Connor Smalley, Matthew Cherrington, Tyler Kay and Lewis Murray, for their Internet of Things (IoT)-controlled greenhouse project. 💡

Our HND Public Services students recently travelled to Croatia, where they enjoyed some adventurous activities including sea kayaking and zip lining.

They also took learning beyond the classroom with some cultural enrichment which included a tour of the Old City of Dubrovnik as well as a Game of Thrones tour too.

Looks like they had an amazing experience. 🇭🇷

It was a pleasure to welcome back former student Catherine Dootson, who previously completed both the Level 3 and HND International Travel & Tourism Management courses,to speak with our current Level 3 Year 2 learners. 🧳✈

Now working with Alfa Holidays, she provided valuable insight into the travel industry, answering students’ questions and supporting them with primary research for their projects.

She also shared her career journey, including her experiences working at Disney and Alton Towers, giving students a real-world perspective on potential career pathways within the travel and tourism sector. 🙌

This week, our HND Counselling and Applied Psychology and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students collaborated on a Sashiko project. 🪡🧵

Sashiko is a style of decorative Japanese embroidery used for reinforcing cloth. The students worked on their own designs in groups to tell their stories through sewing.

These sessions allowed our counselling students to learn about different cultures and to communicate with people from a range of backgrounds. Our ESOL students could also practice their English skills and connect with the wider college community. 🌍🤝

This project was inspired by the Recovery Pathways service (part of Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, GMMH) Sashiko Project.

Our HND International Travel & Tourism Management and HND Animal Management students have been busy fundraising in support of their upcoming educational visit to Australia. 🌏🐨

The Travel & Tourism group organised an Easter bake sale, while the Animal Management students have been offering dog grooming appointments to staff.

Well done to everyone involved and thank you to our college community for your contributions. 👏

Our Nuclear Technician Apprentice of the Year 2026 winner, Jacob Price, was a machine operator for seven years before deciding to requalify at the University Centre. 🎓

💡 Having previously completed a Level 3 Manufacturing apprenticeship at the age of 16, Jacob enrolled onto our HND Mechanical Engineering course as an apprentice through his new employer, Amentum, saying:

“I wanted to go further in my career. Achieving this qualification raises my ceiling quite a lot from my Level 3 apprenticeship. Balancing work and study has been good, it’s a healthy challenge. I’m picking up a lot of skills in work.”

Jacob’s team leader at Amentum commented, “Jacob has developed in skills and confidence, and he consistently delivers anything we ask of him.”

After completing the HND course, Jacob plans to progress to our BEng (Hons) Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (Top-Up) – Awarded by University of Lancashire.

“I want to go on to get my masters and PhD and work my way up to become a senior engineer.”

📍Find out more about our Mechanical Engineering courses:
https://www.wigan-leigh.ac.uk/subject/mechanical-engineering/ -university

Last week, our HNC Civil Engineering students were outdoors taking part in a practical topographical surveying session. 👷🏻

The group used total stations and prisms outside our Centre for Advanced Technical Studies to calculate precise distances. 📐

Practical lessons like this help equip our students with the skills and confidence they need to progress into careers within the construction and engineering sector after graduation. 🎓