Inspired by Flashdance, RUTH MANSFIELD went to Coleg Gwent’s newly refurbished welding centre in Newport to try her hand at welding.

“THIS is either going to be really fun or a complete disaster – or both.”

Those were my last words as I left the office to try my hand out at welding with students and tutors at Coleg Gwent’s City of Newport campus.

Yes, someone had the bright idea that the best person in the office to try out welding would be the woman who, apart from making a wooden jigsaw for a GCSE project which was more likely to give a child splinters than help them in their education, doesn’t have many creative projects to boast about.

So with wishes of ‘good luck’ among the many, many Flashdance references from my supportive colleagues, I was admittedly a little nervous as I made my way to the recently refurbished welding centre to try out something which I had no experience in whatsoever.

Walking into the open plan workshop, at the campus on Nash Road, to the surrounding noise of the machines at work and seeing the students confidently putting their skills to use made me have one of those “what am I doing here?” moments.

But the staff were very welcoming and soon helped me get kitted out in a very flattering pair of bright orange overalls.

There really was going to be nowhere for me to hide.

A pair of black boots, big red gloves, a helmet and goggles soon finished off this rather impressive look and I was all set to give welding a go.

Being led around the centre, I was introduced to Allhana Campbell, 19, who is a second year student at the college studying fabrication and welding.

Miss Campbell spends two days a week at the workshop and is also practising her skills with an apprenticeship at Shine Food Machinery in Newport.

She said: “I just really like trying to make things.”

Demonstrating real girl power, Miss Campbell is enjoying success in the course and calmly got to work with her materials as I looked on.

Miss Campbell, I learnt, was carrying out Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding which uses a tungsten electrode to produce the weld.

So after watching Miss Campbell give it a go, it was time to try out using some of the machines myself.

With a torch placed in my hand and the question of: “Was I sure I wanted to do this?”, I bravely nodded and had a very short go at metal inert gas (MIG) welding with a plate of steel.

This is a process which uses a torch to heat the metal causing it to melt and join.

It was quite exciting and scary all at the same time to be the only one in complete control of what I was doing.

Seeing sparks flying everywhere while concentrating hard on what I was doing. I didn’t quite hum the Flashdance tune, but I was tempted.

It wasn’t the most impressive piece of work I’ve done, even compared to the GCSE jigsaw, but it was good fun having a go with the equipment and I was quite proud of myself for not causing any major damage to myself or the machinery.

Working my way around the centre, I tried out a number of the machines which the students use on a daily basis.

This included a machine to cut steel to use as test pieces and a machine to quench the steel.

I also got involved with other steps including cooling pieces of metal.

OK, so when I was using the machines, I only used them for a few seconds each while being guided very carefully by a tutor or student and probably couldn’t explain fully what it was exactly that I was doing but again it was fun to have a go.

It was also interesting to see the variety of machines available to the students to use each day, meaning they get to receive the best training possible before going out to work in welding.

Dressed up in the overalls and using all the professional equipment certainly made me feel like I was carrying this out in an actual factory or workplace and not a college building.

The recent refurbishment of the college building saw all dividing walls demolished to create an open-plan workshop complete with 34 welding bays and two grinder bays.

The facility was also rewired for the increased level of power needed due to the expansion.

Courses offered include entry courses for new learners with little or no experience.

Successful learners can study up to technical diploma level three and also a new metallurgy unit at level four.

Apprentices on the course are all from local companies and the centre has around 40 apprentices studying at level two or three.

Packing up my kit at the end of my work experience, I was pleased that it had been “really fun” rather than “a complete disaster”.

But after realising my creative skills haven’t improved much since my GCSE days, I don’t think I’m the right person to be signing up for one of these courses anytime soon.

For those with a bit more talent in this department though, Coleg Gwent certainly has a lot to offer.

For more information on the courses available contact Coleg Gwent’s admissions team on 01495 333777.

Businesses can find out more about professional courses and apprenticeships by contacting Coleg Gwent’s Business Edge team on 01495 333564, emailing info@bedge.co.uk or visiting bdu.coleggwent.ac.uk