Over the last year, Weston College students have been given the opportunity to work with some great businesses on live project briefs.

These ‘real-life’ assignments have included creating videos and working on websites.

Students have worked particularly closely with Visit Somerset, who produce a website promoting Somerset as a tourism destination. Here, John Turner, CEO of Visit Somerset, explains more about the students’ work and the partnership with the College.

The working relationship that Visit Somerset has with Weston College is possibly one of the most progressive and dynamic that we currently have within the county.

Both organisations are working closely to ensure that we are not only empowering businesses through combined social mobility and digital strategy, but – just as importantly – empowering and giving opportunity to the next generation. Students are gaining vital vocational skills, which will help them attain the confidence and employability skills they need for their future careers.

Weston College students are helping support three key facets of Visit Somerset strategy:

• Helping with disability awareness through our social inclusivity strategy, which involves ‘signing’ for film developments, supporting our conferences and updating members on the latest disability awareness opportunities and courses.

• Digital students have been creating new websites for our SME members, whilst also providing ongoing maintenance. This will allow the £500 million accommodation industry in Somerset to finally get the vital support it needs to compete against online travel agents. With the support of Weston College students, we are already making considerable improvements to help empower and train SMEs so they can create sustainable futures for themselves. And, at the same time, we’re giving students the opportunity to experience key client relationships and build their all-important interpersonal skills.

• Students have also enjoyed helping shape the new Visit Somerset official county website, creating video content to help market the important meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions industry and our accommodation sector. They’ve also created image-led, content-rich videography to help market the county’s overall beauty.

At 18 months old, this relationship is still only in its infancy. However, we have already achieved so much together. Both organisations and their teams and, most importantly, the students, should be deeply proud of their efforts and their incredible abilities. One thing I always remind students of is that the only barriers to your success are those that appear in your mind.

If you would like to offer a live project brief to our students, you can pledge here.