at-Bristol Logo

About Banner
                 

Press Releases

 Johannesburg youth club explores At-Bristol

At 11.00am on Sunday 2 February, a group of 40 young adults from a youth club in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, South Africa will visit Explore-At-Bristol.

The visit forms part of an on-going charitable project between John Cabot City Technology College, British Airways, UNICEF and Alexandra / Soweto townships. Alexandra is the oldest township in South Africa, the area is rife with poverty and its young inhabitants have few opportunities. The project, initiated in July 2002, works to empower poor black families from the townships by teaching them valuable skills such as literacy, textiles, ICT, sewing, drama and music.

Staying for five days in Bristol, the young people will visit Explore, take a bus tour of Bristol and Bath and stay at Jury's hotel on the Harbourside. The finale of their visit will be the chance to perform a play about children's rights they have written themselves to students at John Cabot and then again at British Airways head quarters at Heathrow before flying home.

Adrian Blight, John Cabot's Head of Communications Faculty said, ' We're bringing the group to Explore as it's not only educational (they don't have a lot of schooling at home) but also because it's hands-on. It is bound to amaze them as it's technologically more advanced than anything they will have seen before and it ties in well with our ethos as a technology college.'

For more information please contact Sonja Johnston in the At-Bristol Press Office on 0117 915 7152, 07967 334 152 or email sonja.johnston@at-bristol.org.uk

Note to Editors:

  1. At-Bristol, a registered charity, has won 11 awards since opening in 2000 including the Good Britain Guide 2001’s ‘Family Attraction of the Year’ and ‘Large Attraction of the Year’ in the England in Excellence Awards South West. It consists of three attractions: Explore-At-Bristol - a hands-on science centre, IMAX® Theatre-At-Bristol - the largest cinema screen in the west of England and Wildwalk-At-Bristol - a journey from the origins of life to the ends of the Earth.
  2. It is a Landmark Millennium Attraction whose principal partners include the Millennium Commission (£44.3 million), the South West of England Regional Development Agency (£17.1 million) and Bristol City Council (£15.7 million).
  3. At-Bristol is backing  the Bristol 2008 European Capital of Culture Bid.
  4. John Cabot City Technology College is an 11-18 comprehensive school in Kingswood with an emphasis on Science, Maths and Technology. Its results are consistently above average and it is heavily over subscribed. Last year it received a special commendation from the Department For Education and Skills for its academic excellence. John Cabot is actively involved in many ventures in the local, national and international community from teaching local primary children how to use ICT to providing educational consultancy to Hammersmith and Fulham LEA. John Cabot is proud of its position at the forefront of educational development and encourages its staff to promote good practice around the world. Its charitable ventures are also expansive.