Students at Eastleigh College have been recognised for their outstanding achievement during an exclusive awards ceremony this month. Nominees were invited to East Avenue, the student-run restaurant currently rated 5 stars on TripAdvisor, for a gourmet meal and celebration of the learner’s achievements over this past academic year.

The prestigious “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” award went to William Maunders, a Level 3 Media, Marketing and Event Management student. William was thrilled, if not a little surprised, to receive the award and commented,

“I was really surprised to win, but very pleased that my hard work and dedication to the course has been recognised.”

William will be qualifying from Eastleigh College later in the summer and has secured an unconditional offer to Southampton Solent University to study BA (Hons) Event Management. When asked about his time with Eastleigh College, Will remarked,

"I have loved my time at Eastleigh. I have met some amazing people and gained some incredible experience in terms of organising, running and co-ordinating events. However, for me perhaps what has been the most important outcome of this course is how much it has built my confidence. I feel like Eastleigh has given me a great platform to enable me to progress and succeed at University and in my career.”

The award, alongside a state-of-the-art iPad, was awarded by special guest and Eastleigh College partner, Concept Building Services. Paul Etherington, Contracts Manager at the firm, works closely with Eastleigh College and employs a number of student Apprentices each year. Paul commented,

“I’m very pleased to be here this afternoon to present this award to a deserving young man. As a company we are a big investor in young people, so it’s a thrill for me to be able to see people utilising their own skills and developing properly towards a career of their own.”

Each student nominated for the award was recognised for their outstanding work and the group as a whole were commended for the many successful events and charity projects carried out this year which have raised over £2,000 for the Wessex Cancer Trust. We look forward to seeing more from our innovative and talented students next academic year!

To find out more about our full-time and part-time courses, as well as Apprenticeships and partnership opportunities, please visit www.eastleigh.ac.uk or call 02380 191299.