The Lincoln University Technical College (UTC) is packing up and preparing to move into its brand new home after £7.5 million of investment transformed and expanded on the former Greestone Centre in the city.
After years of planning, Lincoln UTC opened for its first academic year at Chad Varah House in the Cathedral Quarter, and while its first cohort embarked on industry-lead study, partners, contractors and architects were busy building their new permanent college on Lindum Hill.
The Greestone Centre was a former girls’ school and was adopted by the University of Lincoln as the home of their School of Art and Design.
The building has now been given a new lease of life, with the Grade II listed features remaining throughout the renovations, and a new three-storey extension designed to meet the needs of science and engineering studies.
Lincoln UTC provides education opportunities for 14 to 18-year-olds, combining core subjects like maths and English with specialist studies in engineering and science.
The college’s permanent campus will open on September 7, with a high-tech environment and state-of-the-art industry facilities.
Some 200 students will be welcomed to the UTC, bringing the total number of students to 350, with the sixth form more than doubling and plans to expand even further in the future.
Lincoln UTC Principal Dr Rona Mackenzie. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
In a first look tour of the new campus, Lincoln UTC Principal Dr Rona Mackenzie said the build has been 18 months in the making, with each element of the former building’s restoration and the new extension planned to fit in with the surroundings.
“I’m excited to share the building with the students now,” she said. “The staff had a look last week and the students are coming to have a look this week, so they can appreciate what they have been waiting for.
“We also have new applicants committed for September; when they see this place they won’t believe it.
“Then there’s all our business sponsors. All the different businesses that we have worked with are desperate to get in the door. They have been very patient.
“We will have a grand opening in November once we are in and settled, so that we can appreciate everyone’s contributions.
“This is the combination of so many people’s hard work. Not just contractors Willmott Dixon and JR Roberts our architects, but also all the businesses, Lincoln College, the University of Lincoln and Siemens have done so much for us.
“The completion of the project means that we have bridged that gap between studying and going to work with the kinds of equipment that we have.
“Students will get to use the kinds of equipment here that they would use in business, and that they wouldn’t see in any other school or college in the area.
“It’s a very adult environment and people will see from the building that it’s not like a school. Our students are mature young people and they have risen to the challenge in our current building.
“It feels like a building to fit the vision that we had. It’s perfect.”
“This is a massive investment not only in terms of the building but financially, like the £1 million investment in the science and engineering equipment and the half a million pounds investment in the IT equipment.
“This is over a £7 million project with all of the other elements. Much of that is some of the other buildings like restoring this Grade II listed building and making sure that our beautiful new building fits into the landscape. Then there is all the exciting additions to make it fit for work, and it is an adult work environment.
“We have lots to look forward to. We have our awards ceremony on July 15 celebrating the successes of our students this year.
“Moving in in September, we are ready to face the national competitions and in terms of academia our students are really excelling and we are expecting really strong and impressive AS results.”
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A 20-year-old man has been locked up for three years after starting a fire in care accommodation with a discarded cigarette.
Callum Lilliot, 20, dropped a cigarette on his coat which he then threw onto his bed at his care accommodation in Awdry Drive, Wisbech, at about 10pm on Boxing Day 2021.
Officers initially were called to the property when Lilliot threatened to jump out of a second-floor window, but arrived to find smoke coming from an open window.
An officer began to kick the door down through fears that people were inside, before a carer opened it with a key and police tried to tackle the fire themselves.
The officers were beaten back by smoke and heat, causing two of them to be hospitalised with smoke inhalation. Four residents and carers were evacuated as Lilliot was arrested a short time later.
He claimed the fire had been an accident as temporary accommodation had to be arranged for other residents, but that was not to be the last time that Christmastime he got himself in trouble with the police.
In a further incident on December 29, just three days later, Lilliot rang 999 to say he wanted to hurt staff at Peterborough’s Edith Cavell Centre by burning it down.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of arson with intent to endanger life, arson with recklessness as to whether life was endangered, and threatening to damage or destroy property, during a hearing at Cambridge Crown Court on Wednesday, June 29.
Lilliot was sentenced to three years detention in a young offenders institution.
Detective Sergeant Lee Womak, who investigated, said: “Lilliot showed little regard for the safety of others when he decided to deliberately drop his cigarette on his coat and start a fire.
“I don’t need to explain why starting fires is so dangerous and I hope Lilliot will reflect on his actions and consider how tragic the consequences could have been.”
A judge has issued an apology to a Boston man who admitted drug dealing after his sentence hearing was postponed for a second time because of strike action by crown court barristers.
Stacey Housham, 42, has been warned to expect jail after he pleaded guilty to supplying cocaine and heroin to other users.
Housham was due to be sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court on June 9, but the hearing could not go-ahead because of protest action by defence barristers.
His case was postponed until July 5, however Judge John Pini QC was again forced to adjourn the sentence hearing after being told Housham’s barrister was unavailable because of strike action.
Housham, who attended the hearing by video-link, will now be sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court on July 27.
Judge Pini told Housham: “These are serious matters. I have read the papers and the pre-sentence report in detail.
“Quite plainly your barrister needs to be here before you can be sentenced.
“I am sorry about this. It is something completely out of my control.”
Housham pleaded guilty to four charges concerning Class A drugs when he appeared at Lincoln Crown Court in April.
He was due to be sentenced after the preparation of a report by the Probation Service.
A number of other cases at Lincoln Crown Court have been impacted by the nationwide strike action by the Criminal Bar Association. (CBA)
Eight out of 10 barristers voted for the walkouts amid concerns the Government will not improve a proposed increase in criminal Legal Aid.
Housham, who was of no fixed address at the time of his offences, and is formerly of Collingwood Crescent, Boston, admitted possessing both cocaine and heroin with intent to supply others on February 10, 2020.
He also pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and heroin to others between December 6, 2019, and February 11, 2020.
At a previous hearing the court heard Housham is now clean of drugs and has turned his life around.
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