Gower College Swansea’s Engineering Team Wins Best Design at Krazy Races
Swansea city centre was buzzing with excitement on Father's Day as Krazy Races took over the streets. The event, sponsored by Gower College Swansea, was Swansea’s first soapbox Derby, and saw participants in outrageous fancy dress and whizzing around the city streets in homemade soapbox carts.
Gower College Swansea, not content with simply supporting the event, went the extra mile by entering a team from their esteemed engineering department.
The ‘In it to Win It’ team comprised of four Gorseinon Campus’ Level 3 Engineering students and three engineering lecturers/technicians, with the goal of raising money for the charity JobChange.
Student Joshua Parsons, the team captain, provided valuable insight into the team's dedicated endeavours in building their soapbox kart and their overarching vision for the event: “Within the last 2 months, we collectively as a team have managed to produce a soapbox kart that we believe will be highly competitive and very entertaining for the crowd.
“Our vehicle takes inspiration from old-school vehicles and aerodynamic design, featuring a typical shark mural found on the nose cone as would be seen on second world war aircraft and 1950s race cars. We have kept a consistent style throughout our designs as our team members will also feature in inflatable shark costumes and will follow behind the kart as it navigates through the track.
“Our chosen charity is JobChange, which is a non-profit charity dedicated to supporting people in their career aspirations and those hoping to achieve their dreams. We believe this charity is relevant to us and the aspirations we have as a team, since we are college students hoping to progress further into employment or education.”
The team’s performance on the day was outstanding, coming 7th in the race overall and winning ‘Best Krazy Designed Kart’.
Adding to the excitement, Chris Dower, Bike Maintenance trainer at Gower College Swansea, was on hand to offer repairs and servicing both Karts and spectators' bicycles. His expertise ensured that participants could enjoy the races without any interruptions caused by mechanical issues.
Gower College Swansea's pop-up stalls located by Castle Square provided a convenient hub for spectators to gather information about the College’s training options, school leavers pathways and adult learners’ courses. Two representatives from Better Jobs, Better Futures, Owen Davies (Employability Engagement Co-Ordinator) and Nicola Berry (Career Coach) were also at the stand to advise the public on employability options.
The Krazy Races event was a shining display of the community and creativity in Swansea, and the combination of entertaining races, costumes and charitable goals made it a memorable day for all involved.