Having been handed a disastrous ‘inadequate’ Ofsted grading nearly six years after the last visit resulted in ‘outstanding’ plaudits [see feweek.co.uk], Barry Lord-Gambles explains why he thinks all providers should be inspected every two years.
I have been involved in publicly-funded learning since 1984. I have been through a number of inspections for several companies both as a nominee and director and have always found them to be a challenging, but ultimately positive experience.
The last inspection however was quite an eye opener and has left my company shaken, and stirred into making providers in the same position sit up and take note.
I cannot emphasise enough the effect it had on my staff, learners and employers — many of whom I have worked with for more than 25 years.
I was very disappointed during inspection that success rates for the more up to date 2013/14 cohort were not taken into consideration, even though they were published a fortnight before the draft report was completed. They showed an increase from 69 per cent to 73 per cent.
There was also no consideration given to the current estimated success rates for 2014/15, which stood at 83 per cent.
During the inspection we were told many times by inspectors that many findings could be rectified very quickly and we would certainly be given an opportunity.
This appears not to have been the case and again highlights the inequality between independent learning providers, and schools and FE colleges — both of which do not have their contracts automatically withdrawn, but are allowed to improve despite being put into special measures
Mini inspections should include representatives from lead providers who have in the last 12 months been inspected and gained outstanding
But maybe its security relies on an inspection lottery process that is not fit for purpose.
The subject specialist on our inspection worked for an outstanding lead provider not inspected since May 2006, and even then it was under the Adult Learning Inspectorate.
Surely this cannot be right — it can’t rely on success rates and a well written self-assessment report. I believe all providers should be inspected at least every two years.
To put this in context on the subject of safeguarding, since May 2006 in the news, we have had several high profile safeguarding cases including one very high profile paedophilia case that was able to fool everyone while apparently outwardly projecting an air of total respectability.
These all came to light after the event and with hindsight could have been minimised if appropriate action was taken sooner.
With such an emphasis at inspection on safeguarding I think there may be a lesson there to be learned.
I would suggest that mini inspections would ensure that providers can stay on track and keep up with current Ofsted thinking.
I would suggest that these inspections should be part-inspection and part-support in training, guidance and sharing of good practice.
These mini inspections should include representatives from lead providers who have in the last 12 months been inspected and gained outstanding.
I also believe that the Ofsted events that I have recently attended could be improved by utilising representatives from inspiring providers who would be identified during these mini inspections who could share good practice.
With the added pressures of trying to run a business and keep everyone— from subcontractors, learners, employers, employees, the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), Education Funding Agency and Ofsted — onside it is too easy to lose sight of what we are aiming to achieve.
This is compounded by the lack of support from the SFA, which appears to be understaffed and quite often unavailable to answer queries we may have.
As a lead provider trying to address the complexities of work-based training I feel that the challenges are becoming insurmountable.
I feel very strongly that if the UK wants to maintain a first class apprenticeship model local providers like Venture Learning should be supported otherwise local knowledge, expertise and consistency will be lost.
The FE and skills sector is performing worse in Ofsted inspections this academic year than last year, FE Week research has uncovered.
The research shows the proportion of general FE and tertiary colleges inspected so far in 2014/15 and graded inadequate or told to improve is up 27 percentage points on last year, while the percentage of sixth form colleges and independent learning providers with grade three or four inspection results also increased.
Last year, 36 per cent of inspections across the sector resulted in providers being rated as inadequate or requires improvement — it stands at 66 per cent so far this year. Reporter Freddie Whittaker investigates (click here to view the full article).
A legal change later this year will strengthen the rights of general FE college learners taking higher education courses. Smita Jamdar looks at areas where colleges’ have struggled.
In more than two decades of working with FE colleges, I have never been asked to advise on as many learner complaints as I am now.There are many reasons why this is,
There are many reasons why this is, including, a greater awareness among learners of their legal rights, a greater investment by some learners in their own education and a greater willingness to challenge where expectations are not met are just some of them.
There is also the strengthening of consumer rights that will hit the sector later this year when the Consumer Rights Act comes into force, bringing with it the powerful new remedies of a right to a repeat performance and a right to a discount.
More colleges that deliver higher education will find themselves directly subject to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education. This will almost certainly continue the upward trend as far as learner complaints are concerned.
The most common complaints I come across relate to, firstly, an alleged failure to deliver the programme as promoted.
These complaints often arise when colleges are forced to make changes to the content or method of delivery or assessment, often because of circumstances outside their control.
Perhaps recruitment has not been as expected or a key member of staff has departed. Perhaps promised placement opportunities have not materialized.
Alternatively, the complaints might relate to dissatisfaction with the quality of what is on offer, whether that be the education itself, or the other facilities available.
Avoiding these complaints depends largely on clarity, communication and commitment.
In terms of complaints, the most common characteristic cited in my experience is disability
Information about what learners can expect should be clear and comprehensive, including information on when and why things may change. Constant and open two-way communication with learners will identify at an early stage where things are going wrong, help to find swift solutions and prevent escalation.
Commitment to the learners in terms of delivering what has been promised, putting their needs at the heart of decisions to change what has been offered to them, and in finding solutions that minimize the adverse impact on them when problems have arisen, will also keep complaints low in numbers and in acrimony.
Secondly, perceived disability discrimination. Colleges are diverse communities and learners have the benefit of protection against discrimination on the grounds of a range of protected characteristics.
In terms of complaints, the most common characteristic cited in my experience is disability. Hidden disabilities, learning disabilities and mental ill-health feature highly.
Colleges seem to struggle particularly in two respects: firstly, a failure to obtain enough information at an early enough stage to assess what needs a learner with disabilities might have and secondly, where appropriate , to consider and implement such adjustments as are reasonably necessary to allow the learner to access the educational and other services on offer.
These complaints can be reduced or avoided by ensuring that staff at all levels of the organization have an appropriate level of understanding of the legal obligations towards learners with disabilities to enable them to either refer the matter on within the organization or themselves reach defensible decisions on what to do.
Dissemination of relevant and specific information about individual students’ disability-related needs to teaching and other staff who engage with those students is important.
And thirdly, challenges on the grounds that there has been a failure to deal fairly with learners.
Based on my experience, college disciplinary and fitness to practise/study policies are being invoked more frequently, yet sometimes fail to observe even the most basic principles of fairness and natural justice.
Common shortcomings include a failure properly to articulate the case the learner has to answer, a confusion of roles between investigator and decision-maker, and a failure to allow the learner to test the case against her by testing the evidence.
There is every reason to suspect that learner complaints will increase in the years ahead.
However, relatively simple steps to address the underlying issues will protect colleges against wasted management time and resource in trying to defend the sometimes indefensible or putting things right.
One site ‘difficult’ for learners to get to and ‘unsuitable for provision’
£68m developments leave college with huge debts
‘Makes sense’ to sell one off, says commissioner
Further Education Commissioner Dr David Collins has told how a series of blunders over the “size, location and financing” of these £68m West Cheshire College builds left it with crippling debt as he told Skills Minister Nick Boles “it makes sense” that one be sold off.
He described the buildings as “costly and inefficient” — and the college has revealed plans to shut the Handbridge site, as recommended by Dr Collins, just four years after rebuilding it on a site “relatively difficult to reach by public transport”.
Ellesmere Port
It is also “unsuitable for the provision it offers,” according to Dr Collins.
The building, in Chester, opened around the same time as the college’s Ellesmere Port site, with both having been funded to the tune of £47.9m from the Learning and Skills Council.
Long-term borrowing to top up payment for the builds left the college £14.5m in the red and led in September to Dr Collins being sent in after the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) had assessed its financial health as inadequate.
Nigel Davies (pictured), principal since May 2013, declined to comment on whether Handbridge would be sold, but said: “Any decision to close a site is not taken lightly and has only been done with a clear and detailed understanding of the impact of those changes.”
Mr Boles responded to Dr Collins’ report by sending out two FE Commissioner advisers to ensure the proposed closure process at West Cheshire is carried out properly, including local consultation.
Nigel Davies
Dr Collins’ report had said: “West Cheshire College is in a very difficult financial position largely due to mistakes that were made in the past with regard to the size, location and financing of its new builds.” It added: “The college has a significant amount of excess space which is costly and inefficient. It therefore makes sense to consolidate provision on one site – that at Ellesmere Port – and to sell the Handbridge campus.”
A spokesperson for the grade three 15,257-learner college was “unable to confirm the number of job losses” that would result from the proposed campus closure.
Mr Davies said, despite the closure plan, the college would “continue to have a presence in Chester and is planning to open a more accessible city centre-based location”.
The commissioner’s report on West Cheshire came out the same day (January 29) as Stoke-on-Trent College’s, in which, similarly, it was advised to “review its estate” and potentially sell-off unused buildings. He inspected the college in November after it was also assessed as inadequate for financial health by the SFA.
Dr Collins called on the college to “develop a comprehensive recovery plan by the end of February at the latest”.
Sarah Robinson
Sarah Robinson (pictured), principal of the grade two 15,000-learner college, said: “There are currently no plans to sell off any buildings/sites.” But she added that, since the commissioner’s visit, a staff reduction programme had been launched affecting around 25 employees across all areas, “including senior management”.
An SFA spokesperson said it was working with West Cheshire to “progress” Dr Collins’ findings, while it would “consider the outcome” of his Stoke-on-Trent report.
The political career of Tim Farron MP, former education and skills select committee member and until recently president of the Liberal Democrats, didn’t get off to the most auspicious start.
His first elected role, as president of Newcastle University student union, culminated in him spending the graduation ball under a table.
“I was very close to signing Duran Duran for the ball, which would have been epic,” he says, his face lighting up at the prospect.
“But our students’ union was very party political and the treasurer, who was Labour, refused to sign the cheque, because it was me.
“In the end, we had to have half the Bay City Rollers, and they were absolutely terrible.
“I had to hide under one of the tables because people were so angry. It was just shocking.”
Despite this, the father-of-four describes the presidency as “the second best job I’ve ever had” — after his current role as MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale.
Farron, now aged 44, traces his love of music back to his father, Chris.
From left: Farron’s wife Rosie, sons Jude and Laurie, Farron and daughter Grace.
“I’m very proud of my dad for many reasons,” he says.
“Not least because, although he worked in a regular 9 to 5 job in the building trade, on a Friday and a Saturday night he was DJ Chris Farron with his Wheels of Steel.”
Farron was in a band of his own between the ages of 16 and 24, but refuses to tell me the name on the grounds video evidence has made its way on to YouTube.
“I’m desperate nobody ever sees it,” he says. “We were once described as a ‘fourth-rate New Order’ by the only write-up we ever got, and I’m quite proud of that, as it’s pretty accurate.”
So while his father’s influence was musical, his politics bear the stamp of his mother, Sue, who died from ovarian cancer in 2004.
They separated when Farron was five, and as a single parent to him and his older sister, Jo, she took on part-time jobs as a librarian and a retail assistant before going on to secretarial college and eventually university, to study a business degree.
“She’s quite a hero of mine, my mum, and probably her politics rubbed off on me,” says Farron. “She was absolutely liberal and tolerant in her outlook.
“I have two women to thank for my politics — my mum and Margaret Thatcher — one was a positive and one was a negative influence.”
Farron graduating from Newcastle University in 1992
However, Farron is cautious about pinning down an exact moment he developed his own interest in politics.
“When I was 14, I saw a re-run of Cathy Come Home and it made me cry.
“So I spent my £1.50 pocket money, that I had been going to buy a Smiths single with that weekend, on joining Shelter and that did politicise me.”
Farron studied A-levels, and opted to take them in FE at Runshaw College rather than the local grammar school’s sixth form.
“A lot of my mates didn’t do A-levels, they did BTecs and the equivalent of the apprenticeship scheme,” he explains.
“And actually from what I can tell it was at least as challenging as what I was doing and actually quite a lot more practical.”
This experience left him impatient with academic “snobbery”.
“The gap between vocational and academic is a really false one, it holds Britain back, and it’s not right,” he says. “I don’t like the notion that you’ve got to choose one or the other.”
It was a view that Farron took with him in 2005 to the House of Commons Education and Skills Select Committee (which has since become the Education Select Committee).
We had to have half the Bay City Rollers, and they were absolutely terrible
“One of the things I remember working on quite a bit was the notion that you would try to make sure that kids of all ability groups have an engagement with the vocational and with the world of work, (a) because that’s right, and (b) because it’s really important you don’t send out a message that only kids at the lower end of achievement levels are directed towards vocational study,” he says. “It’s an insult to them and it’s an insult to the subject, and it’s an insult to FE actually, and it’s a cop-out.”
He adds that “one of the great failings of our education system over the last 30 years has been excessive quantification and assessment”.
“Teachers of various kinds and different ages and stages spend their time focusing on the test and not on educating a rounded individual,” says Farron, who worked for the Department for Continuing Education, where he met his now-wife Rosie, after university and then had posts at Lancaster University and St Martin’s College.
From left: Farron’s son Jude, Farron, daughter Grace, son Laurie and wife Rosie
“As somebody in adult education for four years, and later ending up on the education select committee looking at adult education, I’ve been very keen to try to press government to think that sometimes you just have to trust that it’s the right thing to do — not expect some expensive and often pointless process of having to quantify and certificate everything.”
Despite falling off the education committee radar, having served just 10 months as a member, Farron is nevertheless very much on the party leadership radar as one of the names tipped to replace Nick Clegg should he step down after the general election.
However, Farron politely but firmly refuses to be drawn on the issue.
“I think in the end, we may never have been more important or more significant — but we have also never been more under threat,” he says.
“Anyone giving too much headspace to what happens after May is probably foolish and certainly very selfish.
“Nick is a good leader and a very decent man, and he deserves to have people backing him, not speculating on what happens in any future environment.”
But waiting for the right opportunity is nothing new for Farron. He ran for Parliament several times — the first when he was just 22, in the North West Durham constituency, although this, he says, was mostly so the Lib Dems had someone to put on the ballot paper.
Farron campaigning in the 2005 election
But it wasn’t until his fourth time, in 2005, that he won the seat, by 267 votes, which, he says, was “marvellous”.
“So I am being paid to do my hobby and it’s important to recognise that,” he says.
Of course, since 2010, being a Liberal Democrat MP has been anything but plain sailing, but he defends the party’s record in Government, pointing to Business Secretary Vince Cable’s claims to have defended FE at the expense of higher education during coalition talks.
“There was a lot of moving money from the FE column to the higher education column, so although there have been cuts, it’s not the hideous cuts there would have been,” he says.
“And when you’re up against a whole bunch of civil servants who, bless them, don’t ‘get’ FE, because they are all Oxbridge-educated, and often privately-educated before that, and it was a counter-intuitive and counter-cultural thing for a minister to step in and say, ‘What about FE?’
“But it’s a real battle, and the thing is, FE is vital and we need to treat it a bit more like it is vital.”
It’s a personal thing
What is your favourite book, and why?
War of the Worlds by HG Wells. My mother had the prog rock double album of it from the 1970s, which used to terrify the living daylights out of me when I was about eight or nine and eventually I read the book. What I love is the clash between the minute and the personal with the vast and the galactic, and that it’s obviously written at the back end of the 19th Century, and it’s imagining a technology that we can’t even imagine now. And in the end it’s all about how human beings react to hideous events
What do you do to switch off from work?
I read books and play my kids on Fifa on the computer. Annoyingly, my eight-year-old is brilliant at it and I can’t beat him. I can beat my 11-year-old and the 13-year-old. I walk and I run through the woods above Morecambe Bay in the village I live. I’m a pop music anorak, so I spend some time indulging in that, and I support Blackburn Rovers but I don’t really relax doing that
What’s your pet hate?
Insincerity — I dislike it intensely. You see a lot of transparent fakery in the media and in politics, and, and because I’m sure I’m tempted by it as well, I definitely know it when I see it. It just makes me nauseous. I think authenticity is really important
If you could invite anyone to a dinner party, living or dead, who would it be?
I would have Paddy McAloon [from 80s pop group Prefab Sprout] who I consider to be the greatest living English language poet on the planet. But he wouldn’t want to be invited to my house for dinner because it would be sickening, as I would just ask him all sorts of pathetic, fawning questions. I’d also have [author] CS Lewis there. I think he’s just a fascinating character. And Johnny Rotten
What did you want to be when you grew up?
I would have liked to be a footballer, and then I wanted to be in a band
The government has been urged to open traineeships up to more providers after the programme was boosted with figures showing 1,700 more people started on the scheme in the first three months of 2014/15 than in the entire first half of last academic year.
Information in the latest statistical first release (SFR) showed 5,000 starts on the programme in the first quarter of this academic year, compared to 3,300 in the first six months of 2013/14.
By the end of last academic year — the programme’s first — there had been 10,400 starts and a spokesperson for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) welcomed the latest figures as “building on the first year of the programme”.
It comes after FE Week revealed in December how Job Centre Plus (JCP) staff had been set a target of 10,000 traineeship referrals by the end of this academic year.
Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief executive Stewart Segal said he was “encouraged” by the SFR figures, but that he wanted a review of restrictions limiting the delivery of traineeships to mainly grade one and two providers.
“By restricting the delivery, many employers will not get access to the programme because they want to continue to work with their apprenticeship provider,” he told FE Week.
“We understood the restriction in the first year but we have to now reconsider this issue and allow provides to produce the evidence that they can deliver high quality traineeships.”
The SFR also showed that apprenticeship starts among 16 to 18-year-olds between August and October last year year were provisionally up by almost 9,000 — totalling 54,100 — on the same period in 2013/2014.
But the increase could be explained by problems with reporting learner data through the Skills Funding Agency’s Funding Information System (Fis) during the reporting period relating to the 2013/14 numbers. Final figures for the August to October 2013 period showed 54,400 starts for 16 to 18s.
And the provisional figures further showed that all-age apprenticeship starts between August and October last year stood at 147,500 — an increase of almost 40,000 on the previous year. But again, the 2013/14 August to October figures ended up actually being 130,300 starts.
Martin Doel, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “It’s good to see more and more 16 to 18 year-olds pursuing traineeships and apprenticeships, which will help them to gain the skills that businesses need and start them on a journey along their chosen career path.
“As numbers increase we need to see a continued commitment to skills training from the next government, including further development of traineeships into a pre-apprenticeship programme to support those who are not yet ready to take up a full apprenticeship with an employer.”
A BIS spokesperson said she was not aware of any plans to open traineeships up to grade three and four providers.
The Further Education Trust for Leadership (Fetl) last week unveiled the four people chosen for its first wave of fellowship grants, worth up to £40,000 each, to fund research into FE leadership issues.
Reporter Paul Offord spoke to Cornwall College Group’s Ruth Allen (pictured) in the second of four FE Week articles focusing on the chosen fellows.
The lack of “time to think” for increasingly embattled FE staff is an issue that Ruth Allen fears is stifling the ability of providers to cope with policy changes and funding cuts.
It is why the Fetl fellow, who joined Cornwall College Group in 2007 as a business research unit assistant, has decided to focus her research on ‘leadership strategies which foster a creative culture in FE’.
Miss Allen, who was appointed higher education development manager in 2011 and promoted to development manager for the entire group in September, aims to identify a set of ‘creativity indicators’ allowing organisations to work out how to engage staff in creative thinking and measure its impact.
She said: “A lot of people, from principals to lecturers, have had to take on more work and responsibility as roles in FE are streamlined and they’ve lost the time to think.
“The challenge now is to think ‘how as an organisation can we still allow people to think creatively?’
“Embracing activities that give space for thinking can reduce anxiety and stress among individual staff and release their potential for creativity.
“There are also a multitude of benefits for wider organisations, from new product development to improved operational practices.
“Creative thinking allows providers to take a lead over what is happening to them, whether that’s less funding or regulation changes.”
Mark Ravenhall, Fetl chief executive, said: “Creativity is an important aspect of FE leadership. This research project should give us practical hints as to what works best and how providers best adapt in uncertain times.”
Governors at 7,000-learner Stockport College have announced that Simon Andrews is to join them as their new principal.
He is currently in charge at 5,700-learner Macclesfield College and is due to join Stockport, which recently improved from an Ofsted grade four to three rating under interim principal Ian Clinton, in April.
Mr Andrews became Macclesfield principal in April 2012, at which point it was rated as inadequate by Ofsted. Just over a year after he had been in post it achieved a ‘good’ Ofsted rating.
“I am delighted to be joining Stockport College and am looking forward to the challenge of working with students and staff to continue on the improvements already made,” he said.
He added: “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Macclesfield and will miss the warmth and friendliness of colleagues here. I recognise that behind every successful institution is a first class workforce and it’s the quality of the staff at Macclesfield that makes the difference.”
Stockport governors’ chair Louise Richardson said: “Simon comes with an excellent track record in leading college improvement. His experience will be invaluable.”
She added: “I would like to take this opportunity also to put on record our thanks to Ian Clinton, for his strong and visible leadership since February that has resulted in our improvements so far and am very pleased that he will be staying with us until Simon is able to join us, to achieve a smooth transition.”
Anne Thomson, Macclesfield College corporation chair, said: “I want to extend my thanks to Simon, on behalf of the governing body, for his hard work and service over the last five years.
“Simon was first appointed to the role of our deputy principal and then moved on to acting principal in April 2012 and, finally, principal that summer.
She added: “As a governing body, we wish him every success in his future career.”
Meanwhile, Diane Grannell will be the next principal at Bournemouth & Poole College. She is currently its vice principal for finance and planning.
She is due to take over from current principal Lawrence Vincent in September, following his retirement at the end of the academic year.
Ms Grannell, who has worked at the college since 2006, said: “Dorset is a very special place and this is a unique and exciting opportunity to lead the college.”
She added: “I’m looking forward to continuing to work in close partnership with the other education leaders in the county and beyond, and to continue to forge stronger, effective working links with local employers and our community partners.”
Joy Postings, governors’ chair, said: “The interview process was deliberately rigorous involving our staff, governors, students, employers and key stakeholders from across the region.
She added: “I’m delighted that following such an intensive process we have been able to make an appointment from within.”
And Dr Lynne Sedgmore CBE, executive director of the 157 Group, has been named as one of the UK’s most influential people in the 2015 Debrett’s 500 list.
Dr Sedgmore said: “It is a great honour to be included in such a prestigious list, and I am particularly delighted with the recognition for FE, which is all too often overlooked.”
A Gloucestershire College worker who has cerebral palsy takes on his third fundraising charity challenge this month, cycling 100 miles in a day in aid of the Mind mental health charity, writes Billy Camden.
A determined fundraiser from Gloucestershire College will embark on his toughest event yet when he aims to raise £200 for mental health charity Mind by cycling 100 miles in a day.
Helpdesk and booking clerk worker Owen Thomas, aged 26, who suffers limited mobility having been born with cerebral palsy in his legs, wants to travel the equivalent of 161 times around a velodrome on a static exercise bike at GC Gym, at the college’s Cheltenham Campus.
He has previously walked from Gloucester to Stroud to raise money for the Brittle Bone Society and trekked 30.7 miles from Stroud to Gloucester to Tewkesbury in aid of Cancer Research UK.
Owen Thomas working at Gloucestershire College
And his latest effort is due to take place on February 16, after enlisting the help of current students to design posters promoting the challenge.
“The college has been absolutely amazing, everyone has been incredibly supportive and aided me in getting a reach out there,” he said.
“I’ve always said this isn’t a personal publicity thing for me, it is about getting the right recognition for the charity and the college have been great in getting that message out to as many people as possible.”
He added: “Each event I have done has escalated, I always aim to do more each time. I always want to set myself challenges and also send out the message that I don’t get held back by my disability.
“I won’t let it hold me back or dictate me.”
And Mind is a charity close to his heart.
“The charity is close to my beliefs. Some of my friends and family, as well as some of our most prominent visionaries and famous faces have suffered with depression, including Virginia Woolf, Stephen Fry and the late Robin Williams,” said Owen.
“But depression is still seen as a taboo subject because of a lack of understanding and knowledge. My message is this: please don’t be ashamed or scared to reach out and please seek help and advice.
Owen Thomas trains for his 100 miles in-a-day cycle ride at GC gym
“There are many people and charities like Mind that can help you.”
He added: “I want to raise awareness for and dispel the myths surrounding an illness which affects so many people, and hope the people of Gloucestershire will get behind me. If my cycling challenge inspires just one person to seek help, it will all be worth it.”
Owen is himself a former student of Gloucestershire College, where he studied A-levels in history and English literature and language and retook his GCSE in maths.
Shelly McCatty, public relations and copywriting executive for Gloucestershire College, said: “We are all incredibly proud of Owen for taking on such a tough challenge to raise awareness and money for Mind. His enthusiasm and fundraising supports the college’s values.
“We hope that people come along to cheer Owen on and donate to the cause, and wish him the best of luck for the big day.”
