Minister Visits Green Skills Academy to see impact of UKSPF Investment
UK Government Minister Anna McMorrin, undertook an official visit to Coleg Sir Gâr’s Gelli Aur campus to tour its recently introduced Green Skills Academy and to see first-hand how government SPF funding is helping to provide significant upskilling in sustainability and green skills.
During the visit, Jemma Parsons, head of the Green Skills Academy presented the work it’s doing supporting the delivery of retrofit, renewable energy, and energy management qualifications at the centre, which also serves as a demonstration hub for manufacturers, local authorities, and industry partners.
She also gave the minister a tour of the Green Skills Academy facility, a building that has undergone a deep retrofit using a blend of modern and traditional construction techniques, alongside integrated renewable technologies. Designed as a living classroom, the facility showcases sustainable construction and renewable energy in practice. From solar PV and battery storage to underfloor heating powered by a heat pump, natural insulation materials, advanced ventilation systems, and built-in flood resilience measures, every element has been carefully designed to both perform and educate.
The government funding behind the retrofitting of the hub is the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), which is a central UK government programme designed to replace EU structural funding, providing capital and revenue to local authorities for community, business, and skills investment.
During the visit, Liz Bowes, head of agriculture at the college also explained the role of agriculture in the further and higher education sectors, as well as explaining the work carried out with secondary schools, providing training onsite and the college’s contribution to part-time study, horticulture, agricultural engineering and Farming Connect.
John Griffiths, head of agricultural research at Coleg Sir Gâr, also took the opportunity of sharing with the minister, the Welsh-Government funded, pan-Wales projects that have addressed serious animal health challenges in the industry, such as eradicating sheep scab and bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) right across Wales.
He said: “A great day was had at Gelli Aur campus when Minister McMorrin visited the campus.
“The Minister was especially thrilled to visit the newly built Green Academy building and learn about all the new technologies on show.”
“Also, during the visit, we shared our vision of further work in the field of agriculture, including animal health, energy and efficiency and nutrients.”
Contact Jemma Parsons, Head of Green Skills Academy on greenskillsacademy@colegsirgar.ac.uk