Construction Students Invigorated by Guest Speaker Frederick Afrifa; Running Legend

Sporting champion, Frederick Afrifa- of world athletics 200 metre and 400 metre running fame- returned to Bournemouth and Poole College for a third time, from Croydon, to speak to Construction students. His inspirational talk had students thoroughly switched on around the room.

Frederick has a track record of winning a gold medal at his first English Schools Championship, and he represented London in the 4 x 100 relay and the 200-metre sprint. He finished his first competitive season ranked as 2nd place in Italy and has since represented Italy at various international competitions. He speaks at schools and colleges of the pitfalls, challenges and successes of being a professional athlete – in his poignant journey he told students: “It took me eight years to get somewhere.”

Brittany Claxton, their Learning Manager said: “This was the first time Construction students have had a motivational speaker, and it was great to see them talking to each other at break about Frederick’s journey and what they could do to improve their lives and opportunities. Frederick’s talk transcends curriculum, I cannot recommend him highly enough to other colleges and schools.” She added: “My favourite quote of the day was: ‘Britt, you put an actual celebrity in the room with us, this is mad.’”

Seeing is believing and having people like Frederick come in and talk about their journey personally and professionally makes such an impact on our students facing their own difficulties in life. If you’re interested in studying Construction at the college, or know someone who might be, please see our Construction-related courses here: https://www.thecollege.co.uk/college/study/subject-areas.