UWTSD Events and Tourism students Manage the Track

Events and Tourism students from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) hosted a race day (Wednesday 23rd March) at Ffos Las Racecourse in an exciting initiative linked to their degree programme.

Supporting the future talent of the Hospitality Industry, this unique collaboration between UWTSD and Ffos Las Racecourse gave the students the opportunity to put their learning into practice by hosting and managing all aspects of the race day.

Acting General Manager for the day was Summer Cavanagh, a final year Events and International Festival Management student who said: “I am honoured to have been given the responsibility to plan a real-life event of this stature and have the opportunity as a management team to showcase our professional skills”.

The event, which was televised by Sky Sports Racing and S4C, was designed to provide them with real-life hospitality and management experience.

Jacqui Jones, Programme Manager, said: “This event was just one of many aimed at giving our students the skills to become future leaders in their chosen fields. Creative and critical thinking, flexibility to respond to challenges and opportunities, as well as understanding business and sustainability are key aims for the University to help us to progress our learners’ careers.

“Our excellent collaborative partnerships in industry enable us to undertake live projects like this. I cannot thank Ffos Las and our supporting industry partners enough for giving our students such an excellent opportunity and our pride in such a successful event is enormous. The students were fantastic from start to finish and delivered an event that was professional at all times and watching them grow and develop in confidence as they did so was so rewarding.”

Professor Wendy Dearing, Dean of the University’s Institute of Management and Health said: “UWTSD has a proven track record of developing creative, innovative, forward thinking, industry focused academic programmes and has, over many years, produced outstanding graduates who have gone on to make their mark within the hospitality, tourism and events sector.

“The importance of the skills and expertise gained from the students who worked alongside our industry partners to put on this amazing live event cannot be over emphasised. We are so proud at what they achieved.”

Andrea Murdock, the Assistant Chair of the Institute of Hospitality Cymru described the event as “Seamless, from tarmac to table!”, while the General Manager of Ffos Las Racecourse, Kevin Hire said, “the University students were absolutely superb”.

In addition, the students worked closely with the industry to raise money for Wales Air Ambulance charity through an auction run by Tourism graduate Mark Gallagher from the Events Room, and found industry sponsors for their event.

Steven Stokes, Wales Air Ambulance Communications Director, said: “We cannot thank the students and The Events Room enough for their fundraising on behalf of our service – you are lifesavers. Our Charity needs to raise £8 million every year to keep our helicopters in the air and our rapid response vehicles on the road. This is only achieved thanks to the generosity of those who support us. Every penny donated from the auction will help us to attend life or limb-threatening emergencies across Wales.”

Amanda Lewis, a 2nd-year Events and International Management student hosting sponsors and VIP guests on the day, said: “Running an entire race day at Ffos Las has enabled us to gain real-life, hands-on experience in the industry; unique opportunities like this help develop our skills towards a career path, because here you can see how the operational side of things work. It’s also given us the chance to build stronger relationships with each other while working as a team on this event.”

Elenor Haskins, a 1st-year International Events and Festival Management student said, “I wasn’t expecting so many opportunities like this to come around so quickly in my degree course. This industry has practical as well as academic learning, so you’ve got to know how to deal with people as well as what needs to go down on paper planning for an event. Also, events like this really bridge the gap to help build relationships with fellow students from different year groups as we become a team and are able to learn from each other too.”

Further Information

Ella Staden

Swyddog y Wasg a'r Cyfryngau

Press and Media Officer

Cyfathrebu Corfforaethol a Chysylltiadau Cyhoeddus

Corporate Communications and PR

Email : ella.staden@uwtsd.ac.uk