WEC Apprentices manufacture a specially designed bed for Graham Liver's Children in Need Fundraiser!
WEC Group's Training Academy apprentices have manufactured a bed which will be pulled through the streets of Yorkshire and Lancashire by Graham Liver to raise money for BBC Children in Need.
Setting off on Saturday 12 November, the BBC Radio Lancashire breakfast show presenter will pull the specially designed bed for 100 miles, starting in Pudsey near Bradford before moving through Lancashire and finishing at Bare in Morecambe.
The original bed frame was supplied by Silentnight before being transformed into a four poster bed by WEC Group’s engineering apprentices.
The Training Academy students have used their new welding and fabrication skills to manufacture the bed's steel underframe, the whole pull system and a waterproof cover, enabling it to withstand Liver's Lancashire Lie in Challenge which is expected to take him a week to complete.
Graham Said: "Having WEC Group on board has brought this ridiculous idea to life - without the hard work of the Training Academy apprentices, none of this would've been possible.
"The bed looks brilliant and I'm looking forward to dragging it around the roads of Lancashire, although after 100 miles, I imagine I'll be sick of the sight of it!"
Opened in 2006, WEC Group's in-house Training Academy is the only apprenticeship scheme of its type in the UK, offering traditional five year apprenticeships in welding/fabrication, CNC machining and technical production engineering.
As a community centred organisation, the engineering and fabrication company accept projects from the local authorities, residents and charities every year, free of charge, to benefit the local community. Apprentices often work on these projects as a way of enhancing their skill sets and practicing engineering in real life environments.
Recent work has seen the students create a 5ft stainless steel statue in Knott End-On-Sea in tribute to the famous artist LS Lowry, a replica weathervane which was donated to a local church after the original was damaged in a storm, and an 8 metre research space rocket which will launch in 2017.
BBC Children in Need works throughout the year to ensure that every child in the UK has a safe, happy and secure childhood, and the chance to reach their full potential. It relies on the energy and commitment of thousands of fundraisers and supporters across the UK, who donate their time and money to put on events supporting the Appeal. Whether doing your baking thing, your fancy-dress party thing or your challenge thing, every penny raised will help support projects across the UK.