Year 5 Students Win VIP Tour of Stannah’s Andover Factory

Six Engineering and Science project winners from Portway Junior School have won an access-all-areas tour of the Stannah factory in Andover.

Accompanied by their teacher, Dave Irelands, and led by Stannah’s Andy Hastilow, Danela Ward and Austen Kirby, year 5 students were equipped with Hi-Viz jackets and given a full tour of the factory. After meeting the various departments, the winners explored the demonstration room where they trialled a Salise homelift and stairlifts from the product range.

Left to right, back row: Austen Kirby (Maintenance Manager, Stannah Stairlifts), Dave Irelands (teacher at Portway Junior School), Danela Ward, Andy Hastilow (Operations Director, Stannah Stairlifts), Lois Rann (Head of HR), Mike Newman (Stannah Group Learning and Development Manager) Left to right, front row: Sophie, Georgia, George, Harrison, Lucas and Elijah.

The lucky winners earned their prize when, in keeping with the Rio Olympic celebrations, Portway’s year 5 students were tasked with designing and building a scale model of a sports equipment transporter. With support from the engineering company, the students were supplied with craft materials as well as valuable coaching from 16 Stannah volunteers.

After a Dragons’ Den-style pitch process, the winners: Sophie, Georgia, George, Harrison, Lucas and Elijah were invited to attend a VIP tour of the factory to understand how their winning design could be made.

Mike Newman, Group Learning and Development Manager, led the demonstrations and said: “This year Stannah is celebrating 150 years of engineering and if our volunteers can demonstrate to these children the power of an idea then I’m confident we can influence, encourage and inspire the next 150 years of British engineering.”

By making an engineering challenge both practical and fun, Stannah aims to encourage the children of Portway Junior School to consider a future in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). Stannah looks forward to continuing its strong relationship with Portway Junior School.