Unloc has teamed up with Westminster Kingsway College and Visionnaires, both part of the Capital City College Group, to launch a brand new innovation hub located at the front of Westminster Kingsway College’s Kings Cross Campus.
The space is dedicated to the advancement of entrepreneurship and leadership skills in the students that attend the college, local feeder schools and the wider community. The Hub is a physical and visual commitment to developing young people’s aspirations, ambitions and skills, whilst also creating a platform to engage with the wider community.
The space, which will have a soft launch in September 2020 and then fully open in January 2021, has three key functions:
- A flexible events space for workshops on topics including entrepreneurship, leadership and social action – that hosts up to 30 people
- A hot desking offer for Westminster Kingsway College students starting up new businesses, charities or community projects
- A collaborative office space to host Unloc staff and partners working across London
The Changemaker Studios brand is debuting at the Kings Cross Space, and was designed to incorporate the vast range of methods by which young people can be change makers and innovators; including through student voice, social action, charity-projects, businesses, social enterprises and volunteering. Unloc’s vision for this new brand is to launch a number of Changemaker Studios in UK FE colleges in key locations over the coming years.
The space will host various Unloc training programmes, including our Enterprise Short Course and Leadership Academy, alongside start-up programmes delivered by Visionnaires – a Capital City College Group social enterprise that supports and incubates new businesses.
The new space will see Unloc grow its provision on offer in London too, as part of our ambition to expand our reach to offer programmes in all English regions by 2023. In the 18/19 academic year, Unloc’s programme reach increased by over 40% on the previous year, to 10,910 young people.
Hayden Taylor, Unloc’s Managing Director, commented “This is an exciting project that will see students at Westminster Kingsway College and the young people of Camden benefit from a space dedicated to widening their horizons and offering support to those that wish to set up their own business. This is a truly collaborative effort with Unloc, Westminster Kingsway College and Visionnaires all working together to create something really special”.
Jasbir Sondhi, Vice-Principal of Westminster Kingsway College, added “At Westminster Kingsway College we believe in the transformative power of education and are committed to supporting learners into positive destinations. One of our key priorities is to provide learners with access to high quality opportunities that are aligned to meeting the needs of employers and the workplace.
We are excited to be working in partnership with Unloc and Visionnaires, Changemaker Studios gives us an opportunity to broaden learner horizons and inspire them to achieve their full potential. Through Changemaker Studios our aim is to provide all of our learners with access to a wide range of opportunities which lead to positive destinations.”
Pablo Lloyd OBE, Chief Executive of Visionnaires, said “More than ever, our communities need energetic support to shape their social and economic future. Changemaker Studios brings together proven, innovative expertise, helping emerging leaders make positive change for everyone’s benefit.”
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