On 8 September, around 50 Bloodhound Education Ambassadors and guests joined members of our Education team for a packed all-day conference to kick off the new academic year and relaunch the Ambassador programme.
New branding and resources
Among the most keenly anticipated events of the day were the unveiling of Bloodhound Education’s new branding, including the new logo, website and kit. The red, white and black livery is aligned with Bloodhound LSR’s revised look-and-feel, which was introduced earlier this year following its change of ownership, but retains differences in keeping with the charity being a separate organisation.
The new branding extends to the resources made available to Ambassadors to take into schools, colleges, clubs and other venues when running workshops and events.
At the conference, they were also introduced to a brand new, up-to-date presentation full of fresh information, plus details of workshops and resources being rolled out over the coming year under the new themes of Speed, Space and Environment. Results of the high speed testing in South Africa will be incorporated into a new version of the presentation later in the year.
New Education HQ
Our new venue is located next door to the Bloodhound LSR centre at SGS Berkeley Green University Technical College (UTC), which allowed Ambassadors to see for themselves how work on the car was progressing. All the Education team were there to give demonstrations of the workshops, some of which we will be able to run at our new HQ as well as out in schools, colleges and clubs.
Bloodhound chief engineer Mark Chapman gave Ambassadors the latest information about the car and the plans for high speed testing in South Africa, which starts in a few weeks’ time. In addition, Ambassadors watched a specially recorded message from Grafton LSR CEO Ian Warhurst stressing the importance of the Ambassadors’ role in supporting the Education programme.
The event also gave a chance to clarify our relationship with Grafton LSR, the company that owns Bloodhound LSR. “This conference allowed us to not only showcase our great new branding and HQ, but also underscore that we are a separate organisation,” explained Kirsty Allpress, Bloodhound Education CEO.
“We will always be synonymous with the car, but we are gradually increasing our remit to cover more aspects of science, engineering and technology than that, offering more opportunities to inspire and engage with young people. We also have specific responsibilities as a charity, which all of our Ambassadors sign up to, so a conference like this enables us to discuss them with everyone face to face.”
More Ambassadors please!
The Ambassadors’ conference was not only well attended but also very well received:
“Thanks to you all for putting on the Ambassadors’ event on 8th September – it was very useful and enjoyable, and great to get us all ‘relaunched’!”
“I just wanted to thank you for a very well-organised and informative programme yesterday. It has given me many ideas and also helped clarify my own thinking about the best ways in which I may be able to help as the new look organisation goes forward.”
“Well done…. A good and interesting day.”
“Thank you to you and the team for an informative and well-organised conference – with decent food too!”
“Thank you for organising the Ambassadors’ Conference on Sunday. It was a good day – very well run and informative.”
We are keen to increase our pool of Ambassadors around the country to enable us to meet the growing demand for our workshops and activities, particularly as excitement over Bloodhound LSR’s high speeds tests grows. Education and Event Ambassadors are vital to the future of the charity and bring a wealth of industry experience, as well as awareness of STEM careers. Information about our Ambassadors’ activities also supports grant applications, which in turn enable us to continue our work.
If you would like to become an Ambassador or find out more about what the role entails, you can find out more on our Ambassador Programme page, which includes videos of our Ambassadors in action.