Nissan hails ‘phenomenal’ impact of foundation

A carmaker has marked a decade of fostering STEM talent with plans to “supercharge” its foundation's reach.

Nissan is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its Skills Foundation, which has inspired more than 100,000 young minds across the North East. 

Originally launched in 2015 by King Charles, then Prince of Wales, the Nissan Skills Foundation began as a single interactive workshop with a goal of reaching 1000 students.

Fast forward ten years and the foundation has beaten the initial target 100-fold, now running 13 interactive STEM courses for children aged six to 18.

Michael Jude, HR director at Nissan Sunderland, said: “To have inspired more than 100,000 young minds over ten years is a phenomenal achievement.

“We could not be prouder of our training team, who help unearth the exciting talent of the future.

“But it’s not just about the numbers.

“We have dozens of current staff who attended a Skills Foundation event while at school, proof that the foundation’s work today really does produce the talent of tomorrow.”

To mark the occasion, 200 pupils from local schools gathered at Nissan's Sunderland plant to build a giant LEGO replica of the Nissan Qashqai, assembling 61,200 bricks in just an hour. 

Among those who attended was a year 6 class from Gillas Lane School, in Houghton-le-Spring, which was also the first school to attend the Monozukuri Caravan workshop, centred around the Japanese art of manufacturing, a decade ago.

Kay Straughan, headteacher of Gillas Lane School, said: “Over the last ten years, we’ve seen many of our children attend various courses at the Nissan Skills Foundation.

“We believe that by introducing children to the exciting opportunities available in STEM-based careers at a young age, we’re providing them with the knowledge to inform their future career choices as they go through their educational journey.”

As part of the MADE NE project, a £14.6 million Nissan-led skills hub in Sunderland, which is focused on training a workforce for the electric vehicle and battery technology sectors, Nissan also announced plans to double the foundation’s reach, expanding to 16,000 children annually.

The expansion will include a new classroom at the MADE NE facility, further enhancing training opportunities for students.

Michael added: “I am delighted to be able to announce the doubling in size of the foundation.

“Reaching more than 16,000 students a year will supercharge the talent pipeline we and our supply chain partners need to build the brilliant electric cars of our EV36Zero future.”

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