Over 200 Grimsby school children have taken part in the RWE Wind Energy Workshop programme throughout 2023 receiving great feedback from teachers and students alike. The hugely successful workshops, ran in collaboration with Lab Rascals, were adopted and launched by RWE in 2022. They are designed to give children the opportunity to work in a team with their classmates and focus on hands on learning by building Lego wind turbines and cars, and capturing data on wind generation from different fan speeds. The workshop programme supports RWE’s commitment to skills, education and careers in the region.
After the success of the four workshops delivered in 2022, the team increased the number to eight for 2023 to enable them to reach out to even more local students. The workshops are delivered into schools located in and around Grimsby with Reynold Street School, Scartho Junior Academy, Laceby Acres Primary, Woodlands Academy, Strand Academy and Littlecoates Primary amongst the schools hosting a workshop this year.
The Wind Energy Workshop programme, which is now into its 7th year, has been delivered to over 2000+ Key Stage 2 students and seeks to encourage them to remain in the science based subjects required for careers in engineering. The workshops are lead by 2023 Humber Renewables Woman of the Year, Claire Swannick, who works as a Logistics Coordinator at Triton Knoll. The sessions are supported by the RWE Operations Teams based at Humber Gateway and the Grimsby Hub, RWE’s new state of the art operations and maintenance facility currently under construction.
Claire designed the workshop to help students better understand STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and raise interest in studying these subjects to gain a role in engineering later down the line. She said: “it is so rewarding to work with younger peoples and educate them on renewable energy whilst also helping them learn important life skills. It is great to work for a company who embraces the same enthusiasm for the future of this region as I do.”
Lab Rascals is an award winning science party, school workshops & events company located in the Humber region and worked with Claire to develop the programme and deliver the workshops into schools. Founder and Director, Katie Norman said: “I really enjoy working with the RWE team to deliver these successful workshops into local schools. Renewables is such an important sector for the region and it is vital that we reach as many children as possible to educate them on the role they can play in the regions fight against climate change.”
RWE has committed to delivering a further eight workshops in 2024 and will be confirming the schools to take part in due course.
RWE announced the creation of the Grimsby Hub back in 2021, marking a major strategic commitment to the UK’s east coast. The new facility is expected to accommodate around 140 RWE employees in total and has the potential to bring around 70 new local jobs to the region, plus indirect jobs required in support.