Queen Alexandra College

1. Spirit of the Community Awards 2013 Spirit of the Community Awards 2013 Queen Alexandra College Spirit of the Community Awards 2013 Trees for Cities The charity was given a £5,000 award in 2013 to support their Traditional Community Orchard and Elm Avenue project in East Ardesley, Leeds. The project, delivered in partnership with Leeds City Council, aimed to establish a Traditional Orchard and Elm Avenue to provide local people with sources of healthy food, to improve underused local spaces and to support development of the wider South Leeds Green Infrastructure Corridor. Following consultation with local community residents 72 elm trees have now been planted along a bridle path to create a beautiful new Elm Avenue and 172 fruit trees will be planted in 2014. Over 59 adults and 90 children from East Ardsley Primary School have participated in project activities so far. “The project has already strengthened local ties and raised the profile of the site amongst the local community. Working with school children has increased their awareness of green spaces and encouraged greater environmental learning. Council funded hard landscaping such as the construction of footpaths and bridleways has opened up the site and improved access for a number of users including walkers, cyclists and horse riders” Harriet Ibbett, UK Projects Coordinator. Queen Alexandra College (QAC) is a specialist college in Birmingham offering education, employment and independent living skills programmes for people with disabilities from across the country. It works to create challenging opportunities for its students, to develop new skills and realise their potential to live and work as independently as possible. The charity was given a £10,000 award in 2013 and used this to develop and expand one of their art and design courses to include the opportunity to design and print in various formats on new equipment. Students are now able to produce printed posters, t-shirts, baseball caps and mugs, as well as other items. QAC has used this latest development to bring the world of enterprise and commerce into their curriculum. “As the Trades curriculum develops we hope our students will get more involved in using the equipment as a way to enhance their work experience as well as their studies. It is a great way for them to develop a range of practical customer service and business skills, improve their communications skills and also their ability to work as part of an employment team” Beverley Jessop, Vice Principal Academic