CAFREs Greenmount campus has hosted an innovative two-day event to showcase the exciting opportunities a career in horticulture can present. It was targeted at year 11 pupils who are soon making career choices. Many hundreds attended and got a better understanding of horticulture.
‘Grow Careers’ featured a range of interactive indoor and outdoor fun demonstrations, allowing the pupils and their teachers to get an insight into the hugely diverse world of horticulture.
Highlights included a visit to the campus Greenkeeping and Golf Academy for a glimpse of the profession of greenkeeping and the world of sports turf management. Those interested in sport even got a chance to try their hand with “True Putt” where the effect of maintenance operations on putting is clearly demonstrated.
Pupils interested in art got a chance to see floristry students create a design for the Northern Ireland heat of the Worldskills Floristry Competition and found out what knowledge and skills are needed to become a champion florist or garden gardener.
Locally grown food, flowers and plants are worth some £80million to the local economy and £10billion in the UK. Pupils also got a brief insight into the application of science and technology to the growing of plants and heard about the scientific, business management and marketing roles that the industry can offer.
Those interested in conservation saw how horticulturalists create a haven for our wildlife and understand how trees and other plants have a very positive effect on our health and well-being. They learnt how horticulture is used to help people cope with and recover from illness.
Senior Education Adviser at the college Kenneth Johnston said: “Horticulture is such a diverse area and we hope that over the two days we helped pupils see what a wide range of exciting and creative rewarding careers it offers. We want them to understand the global nature of horticulture and to consider CAFRE as a gateway to a career that could literally take them all over the world.”
To find out more about the great range of job opportunities in horticulture, visit http://www.growcareers.info/ or http://www.facebook.com/GrowCareers.
Details of all CAFRE courses can be found on the College website: http://www.cafre.ac.uk/ or Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/discoverCAFRE
