04.07.19
Princess Anne officially opens £30m Sellafield education campus in Cumbria
Campus Whitehaven, Sellafield’s largest ever community investment, has been officially opened by HRH Princess Anne.
The Princess Royal unveiled a plaque to mark the official opening of the site, which houses St Benedict’s Roman Catholic Secondary School and Mayfield Special School and opened its doors to pupils in January.
The £30m facility is a “world-class learning environment” according Jamie Reed, Sellafield Ltd’s head of corporate affairs.
He said: “This is our largest single social impact investment. I think it will prove to be one of the best decisions we ever made.”
Construction work finished last year, after Sellafield, the government body responsible for the Sellafield nuclear site, invested an original £10m from its social impact budget into the project.
Further funding has been provided by Cumbria County Council, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, and Copeland Community Fund.
Princess Anne was greeted by crowds of students waving flags as she toured the education campus, met with staff, students, governors and local stakeholders.
Mayfield School headteacher, Gillian Temple, commented: “We were delighted and honoured to have opportunity to showcase our wonderful new facilities.
“Her Royal Highness enjoyed seeing our fantastic new learning environment along with the commitment and dedication of all our students and staff.”
Sellafield supply chain director Martin Chown added: “The building looks tremendous and the energy and enthusiasm of the students was genuinely uplifting.
“The campus will help raise educational attainment levels so more young people can access future opportunities in our decommissioning programme and beyond.
“It’s a genuine community asset which is already improving lives in west Cumbria. It’s a perfect demonstration of our social impact strategy in action.”