Boston Garage Equipment was selected to equip a unique car and motorcycle workshop, recently opened at Bushey Herts. The £300,000 facility provides for children that have dropped out of school, and focuses on vehicle repair and maintenance in a broad curriculum.
Funded by Hertfordshire County Council, the new workshop continues a project originally started as a charity in 1994 by John Page, a former head teacher. At the opening event, Mr Page said “This is the perfect thing for hard-to-teach children. You can stimulate them and deliver most aspects of the national curriculum in an unorthodox way. You’re turning kids around, keeping kids out of offending and persuading them not to go over that edge. It is such an enormously valuable facility for local people.”
Crime reduction officer for Watford, Kim Boot, also visited the opening and praised the work that was being done. He said: “Anything with youth engagement and anything as positive as this is extremely worthwhile.” Many of the school’s former pupils have moved on to successful careers with companies including Suzuki and Honda.
Mick Rowan, Project Manager, said: “In the first term we had a 95 per cent attendance rate, which for children who haven’t been at school for a couple of years is phenomenal, just unheard of. I’m over the moon with that.”
Boston’s Managing Director Ray Calcutt commented: “We are pleased to have been involved in this worthwhile project, and now supply a growing number of colleges and universities seeking user-friendly latest technology. This is an important indicator of the garage industry’s technical progress.”