Autumn is here!

Well the temperature has certainly dropped and autumn is definately here...chilly!
This has been another week that has flown by... We started by taking over 30 students to start their Work Experiences in and around Torbay - they have all settled in and are having a great time with their respective placements.
Tuesday brought another network meeting at The Grand Hotel, very well attended and great to see some new faces. On Wednesday I managed to spend the day in Exeter visiting a couple of new placements and enjoyed a very interesting talk, with a good lunch obviously, at the Exeter Chamber meeting at The Rougemont Hotel...great people there and some excellent new contacts. I visited Broadclyst Primary Scool to meet the team there and to see how their student Rafa was doing - very happy to report that all is well there and what a fab school - really great atmosphere there. Also went to CALM (Centre for Additive Layer Manufacturing)..wow, what a great place, such great technology and really looking forward to finding a suitably qualified student tyo enjoy a placement there.
On Thursday, yet another breakfast!!! this time with the South Devon Business Club SDBC, held at Follaton House in Totnes it was great to meet so many new people and catch up with some familier ones! Breakfast was 'continental' style and provided by Simon Dolly - made a really nice change (good coffee too)...the meeting did bring some really good contacts and opportunities so will have to have a good look at some incoming students to match to the placements.
Next week we have a group of Lecturers from the Romanian American University - always an interesting group. We are off to South Devon College University Campus to see Jon Hall and also to Exeter for a tour of the Exeter University among others, along with some social/cultural visits around the area.

The student meeting this week is a Friday night party at The Half Moon with a Karaoke provided by Phoenix Roadshow...I'm sure there will be pictures for Facebook for next week!

I have to dash off to introduce a student to her Work Placement at Roselands School, I know she, and they will have a great time..
No pics this week as I didn't take any!
So..gotta go, have a great weekend.
Ciao for now.

What have we been up to?

Well I must confess we have been fantastically busy just recently. As summer comes to an end there seems to be no shortage of students wanting to enjoy their European Work Placement in Torbay. We have already passed our record breaking total of 748 from last year...and more are near to booking! I think 800+ is going to be very realistic for 2012.

We have also had an increase in our 'programme' numbers with two groups in the last 2 weeks here for a Work Preparation course and Conversational English lessons, plus of course a practical Work Placement experience - fantastic the way that these young people from all over Europe adapt so readily to life here in the UK. Once again the people of Torbay, Exeter and Plymouth show how welcoming they can be, not to mention the many businesses that open their doors to host students and help them improve their English skills. What a great area we live in!

At the begining of September, Jayne and I went to London to the annual ALPHE conference, this is a huge event in our calendar and brings organisations from around the world together to meet and forge relationships. We were able to speak with representatives from all over Europe and showcase the fantastic area we live and work in, using our amazing video to help make Torbay the destination of choice for even more students and visitors. There is of course an awards evening and what a celebration of our industry that was - a fantstic event! We came back with many new contacts and potentially more groups coming to visit us in 2013.

This week also saw, amongst others, the arrival of a group of 5 students from Eurocentro in Italy. Prior to starting their work experience they have been enjoying a Work Preparation course and Conversational English. They also had the opportunity to visit 1-zero-1, a local IT company that also, by coincidence, look after all of the TTPL systems. The group visted the office and enjoyed a very informative talk with Chris Thompson.


Jayne and Mia are also busy preparing for a trip to San Diego, another conference and another busy week for them. Will update you all on how that went when they return.

There is also a relatively new web destination for anyone wanting to find out more about Torbay, English RivieraTV is the brainchild of John Reynolds and contains a number of interesting and informative videos - have a look. English Riviera.tv

Student meeting this week was a trip to the cinema to see Total Recall ...I remember the original!!! I know they all had a great time so a big thank you to The Merlin Cinema in Torquay.

Ciao for now...

Welcome...

This week has seen Nadine join us.

Nadine Stroud, daughter of Jayne our MD has taken on the role of Business Development, looking towards Europe for ways that we can engage with a wider variety of Partner organisations and projects, bringing more visitors to Torbay. She will also be exploring funding opportunities to enable us to send some of our local young people to enjoy the kind of life changing experience so many young Europeans have had here in South Devon.

After her first week Nadine said,

Having been a full time student for the last 3 years at Plymouth Uni, I am really excited to finally be a full time member of TTPL.  I’ve been involved with management meetings for a while now and I’m especially looking forward to building on the excellent partnerships that have been formed by the team and developing the fantastic service we offer.  I’ve been made really welcome by everyone and it’s great to be working in such a friendly atmosphere with people who clearly love what they do.  Finally, I’d just like to say thank you to all of the people who have made TTPL so successful to date and long may it continue!

What more can I say other than a big TTPL  'Welcome' to Nadine.

Sad news

This week has seen one of Paigntons longest standing businesses fall victim to the recession... taking with it sister shops in Plymouth and Exeter. Harbour Sports has been a landmark on Paignton Harbour since the mid 70's and will leave a large hole in the Harbour community. On a personal note, I have known Frank for some years and have been inspired by his drive and enthusiasm for this area. He has mentored students, both UK and EU and campaigned long and hard for a better environment for all who live, work and visit Torbay - he is also a thoroughly decent bloke. All at TTPL wish Frank and his team at Harbour Sports the very best and sincerely hope that a phoenix will rise from this sad event.

This is just one of our students with Frank, shared on his blog, please watch and enjoy this marvelous video.

I have also heard that Mark Jenkins - star of The Hotel has put The Grosvenor up for sale and the other two hotels in his group The Kistor and The Inglewood are in the hands of the receivers...so hard to see the real and personal impact of this global recession.

So, a bit of a gloomy blog here but if I know anything of the people involved in these two examples of recession fueled tragedy it is that they will not give up, the positive attitude thet is held dear and infectiopusly shared will bubble to the surface and we will see something special rise from this weeks sad events.