South West College Hairdressing students have joined forces with Motor Vehicle students to launch a new pilot programme aimed at encouraging young women to take more responsibility for the maintenance and safety of their vehicles on the road.
The initiative has formed the aptly named ‘Hair Razors Motor Club’ which is starting to generate huge interest on Campus in recent weeks. To setup the initiative the Motor Vehicle and Hairdressing students along with Orla Fox, SWC Student Union Development Officer, meet to discuss the concept and to identify the areas that they would like addressed by the Club. These suggestions were taken on board by the lecturing team and ‘The Hair Razors Motor Club’ was born.
As its first student engagement activity the club has launched a 6 week course on car maintenance for women. This course consists of 1 theory class and 5 weekly practical workshops where young women learn basic, but vital, car maintenance skills, such as oil checks, brake fluid safety, power steering fluid, windscreen washer and coolant replacement. Students will also learn the all-important life skill of how to change a wheel in the event of a puncture! To often these types of activities are carried out by male relations and garage owners, leaving young women very exposed in the event of a breakdown and generally more out of pocket.
Orla Fox stated; "Students are keen to learn practical skills and this new club is an example of how cross curricular activities can spark interest and participation. Already other classes are asking about the programme and how they can get involved, which can only be a good thing!"
Members of the club will undertake the specific 6 week course designed by the students and receive a College certificate for their endeavours. After the initial pilot with the Hairdressing students at the Omagh Campus it is planned that membership of the club, the course and subsequent activities will be available to all full-time and vocational students studying at the College.
Paul ‘O’Loughlin, lecturer at South West College said; "The Motor Vehicle students are very enthusiastic about the setting up of the Club. They are keen to share their knowledge with students from a diverse range of courses and are very aware of the nature of issues that young females might face when on the road. The club will represent a knowledge platform for support and guidance and is a classic example of males and females working together and looking out for each other."
This programme is one of many new initiatives planned through the newly redeveloped Student Union at South West College. The Unions main aim is to promote cross collaboration between curriculum and students and addressing real issues for students in their day-to-day lives.