Civic officials tour 'important' skills and career development centre

Government and council officials at Gulliver's Valley with MD Julie Dalton - right

With building work underway on Skills Street at Gulliver’s Valley Rotherham, the group of civic officials visited the theme park to find out more about the development which will provide a new hands-on approach to growing, and honing skills by inspiring and informing children, young people and adults about the world of work and careers.

The interactive facility, which will be a Centre of Excellence, is part of a winning bid secured by Rotherham Council through the Government’s Levelling Up Fund.

Children and young people will be able to walk into a bank and learn about the financial sector, or design or make a product in an engineering environment, while shops and leisure and hospitality outlets will help develop customer service and retail skills – all through hands on play, practice and performance.

The visiting group of officials included Rotherham Council chief executive Sharon Kemp, along with representatives from the civil service including the Departments for Education; Housing and Communities; Business and Trade, and Work and Pensions (Job Centre Plus).

The council’s Sharon Kemp said: “It was exciting to be able to see first-hand how the Skills Street development is coming to life, and I very much look forward to seeing the project continue to take shape.

“Having Skills Street in Rotherham will be so important in terms of raising aspirations of our children, young people and generations to come.

“The fun and practical approach makes the project unique as well as supporting the different employment and skills opportunities available locally.”

Julie Dalton, managing director of Gulliver’s Theme Park Resorts, said: “It was an honour to welcome Rotherham Council and the civil servant guests to Gulliver’s Valley so they could see for themselves the difference Skills Street is set to bring to Rotherham and the surrounding area.

“It’s been a collaboration right from the start and continuing to work with a wide variety of partners is crucial to its ongoing success.”