Ashford College - Remembrance Day 2022

Remembrance Day 2022 took place on Friday 11th November, and we at Ashford College commemorated this in various ways, thanks to many of our students and staff members. We sold poppies in the week leading up to and on the day at reception, with all the money raised going to the Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal. You could also buy some knitted handcrafted poppies alongside the traditional ones.

At 11am we had our two minutes silence in the main atrium of college, and we had artwork by our ESOL students displayed on the walls, which payed tribute to fallen soldiers.

Catering students were hard at work in the morning of Remembrance Day, prepping and cooking all the food for our Veteran's Lunch. This lunch was to be attended by members of the Royal British Legion from Ashford, local Veteran's, local Reverend's and other members of our local community. Set up by our Student Experience Officer Megan and helped by members of our Student Union, the lunch was a great way to mark history.

The menu was inspired by classic wartime food, and guests could choose from dishes such as Lancashire Hotpot and Apple Crumble. Food was brought up from our kitchens by our Catering students and was served by them and our Student Union, who also greeted our guests and served Tea and Coffee before and during lunch.

The room itself where the lunch took place was decorated with poppies and artwork from our Art and Design students, such as solider silhouettes and poppy wreaths they had created.

After lunch, some of our students came in to read poetry and sing classic songs, such as our current SU President Tash, who covered Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again" for our Veteran guests. You can hear some of Tash's singing in the video below which recaps the day. All our guests got to take home a book of wartime poetry which had been authored by one of our English teachers, and there was even a raffle for a Poppy cake.