Siemens announced as official sponsor of Hull’s Freedom Festival

Energy giant Siemens has been announces as a sponsor for this autumn’s Freedom Festival in Hull.

Taking place in Queens Gardens over the weekend of 4-6th September, the festival will feature several attractions hosted by the BBC’s Make it Digital, a UK‐wide initiative that aims to inspire a new generation to get creative with coding, programming and digital technology.

Siemens supporting the Freedom Festival Queens Gardens programme comes as the energy company prepares for the first major phase of recruitment for its offshore wind turbine blade manufacturing, assembly and loadout facilities at Alexandra Dock in Hull, which will create 1,000 new jobs.

Earlier this week, it was reported that the construction of the Siemen’s 40,000sq m facility at east Hull’s Alexandra Dock will be completed on September 1, 2016, two months earlier than expected.

Therefore, this accelerated schedule now means Siemens must fill the 1,000 jobs available, the majority of which will be within the blade factory, much earlier than expected.

Carolyn Woolway, Siemens’ head of human resources for the Hull project, said: “As the world’s largest engineering business Siemens is deeply committed to promoting vital science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills and inspiring young people into courses and careers that are critical to the local and national economy.

“We believe that is best done by bringing the magic of science and technology to life and making it fun and accessible. That’s exactly what the enhanced Queens Gardens programme is all about and we’re delighted to help to add a further dimension to Hull’s premier cultural event.”

Jenny Coombes, executive director of Freedom Festival Trust, added: “We’re thrilled to partner with Siemens to bring this hugely entertaining element of the programme to the festival. Each part of the day-time Queens Gardens offer has so many entertaining, educational aspects that we hope young festival-goers will take away with them and be talking about for a long time afterwards. Our Queens Gardens programme is growing year on year, thanks to new partners coming on board and the much-valued support from our key funders Hull City Council, without which we would be unable to continue to enrich and expand the line-up each time.”