By Robert Van de Noort
Hollywood and the NHS may seem very different. But they are both huge industries built on the abilities of talented and highly skilled people.
As a university, our mission is to educate and inspire people, and to discover new knowledge. While the classic image of a university student is of undergraduates and postgraduates studying for a degree – and Reading still has plenty of those – it’s increasingly important that learning becomes a part of everyone’s lives.
That means having the opportunity to refresh your skills, or to have opportunities to train for new careers, at any age.
This week, two new projects have launched to support people in Reading and Wokingham to update their skills, supporting their own careers and the needs of our local community and economy.
On Monday, I was delighted to be at the opening of the new clinical simulation training suite at the University’s Whiteknights campus. The project is part of our partnership with the Royal Berkshire NHS Trust and with funding from the Office for Students.
It’s a recreation of a four-bed hospital ward, including equipment and video link facilities, as well as consultation spaces.
It will provide University students studying our pharmacy and healthcare-related courses, including our increasingly popular Physician Associate programme, with the opportunity to better prepare for clinical placements by practising within a safe environment. Many of our students go on to stay in the local area after they graduate, so this will help prepare them for serving the local community later in their career.
For NHS employees, and healthcare colleagues within the community, the training suite will support further skills development – supporting wider efforts to offer the best possible care and services to local people.
Then on Tuesday, at one of the TV and film sound stages within the new Shinfield Studios, the University and its partners launched a new organisation, Screen Berkshire. This exciting project will help develop the skills of new and existing film and TV talent in our area.
Screen Berkshire was formed following investment from the British Film Institute (BFI). The partnership is led by Slough-based social enterprise Resource Productions CIC, with support from the University, Shinfield Studios and Bedlam Film Productions – producers of the Oscar-winning film The King’s Speech.
TV and film production is booming across the UK. But the industry needs more skilled and creative technicians and crew, including from a broader range of backgrounds across Berkshire.
Screen Berkshire will help to match the needs of industry with the potential we have on our doorstep.
The University has a well-established Department of Film, Theatre and Television, so this is a natural extension of the high-quality teaching we already provide. We are proud to support Screen Berkshire’s mission on skills and improving diversity in the industry, as well as supporting productions already filming in the region.
Skills help people grow as individuals, while also benefiting our whole community. To find out more about how the University is working with and in the Berkshire community, come along to our autumn community forum on the Oxford Road, Reading, from 6pm on Tuesday, October 17.
Professor Robert Van de Noort is the vice-chancellor of the University of Reading
