Young designers in Durham took over a city centre shop to display sculpture, ceramics, textiles and jewellery.

Applied arts for enterprise students at Cleveland College of Art & Design (CCAD) staged a mini-exhibition at the former Durham City visitor centre as part of a project to make creative use of vacant premises.

They spent two months creating their ‘Artist’s Book’ exhibits, making visual interpretations of their final dissertations.

Mature student Lou Gilmore-George, 34, of Richmond (pictured), exhibited copper sculpture inspired by camping. She said: “It’s been a really sharp learning curve creating an exhibition from scratch, but much more of a real life experience.

“Not only did we have to design and create the exhibits, we were also responsible for planning the space, lighting and marketing using social networking channels.

“The idea behind Empty Shop is so creative and having my work exhibited in the centre of Durham is incredible.”

The scheme was co-ordinated by arts group Empty Shop and Durham County Council to give artists a platform in prime locations.

Two young midland stylists have been awarded a top hairdressing qualification.

Louise Davis, 24, and Sarah Harris, 21, who both work at Tanya Harris Hairdressing in Leicester, recently qualified as Wella Master Colour Experts.

The duo, who have been studying with Wella at their state-of-the-art studio in London for the past year, now join a small group of stylists in the UK who hold the award.

Salon owner Tanya said: “The Wella programme is known throughout the hairdressing industry as one of the best colour courses available. The knowledge that Louise and Sarah have gained is immense and will be a huge benefit to the salon.

“They put a tremendous amount of hard work and effort into it and we are so proud of them both.”

Sarah and Louise both gained qualifications at Leicester College
where Sarah won apprentice of the year in 2010 and Louise won student of the year in 2007.

The instructors at Wella were so impressed with the stylists’ work that they intend to use their portfolios to help teach future students.

A young footballer says his selection to play for England Colleges is the “best birthday” present that his father could have asked for.

Jack Stanger, 18, from Sunderland, received the news on his father’s birthday. “When I got the call to tell me I had been selected I was ecstatic,” he said. “It was the best present my Dad could have asked for.”

The centre midfielder fought off competition from hundreds of young hopefuls to be selected for the team, which will travel to Italy later this year for an international tournament.

He is studying a diploma in sport development, coaching and fitness at Sunderland College’s football development centre. “The college has been a massive help in my development as a footballer and I owe them a big thank you for all their great support,”
he said.

“It really does feel like a dream come true. The selection motivates me to continue to impress until I reach my ultimate goal of winning a professional contract. I am hoping that there will be scouts from top clubs at the games looking for new talent. To play football professionally would be the ultimate achievement for me.”

Three catering students from Surrey have made it through the first stages of a competition for young chefs.

Sam Hutchinson, Jake Solman-Wood, both 19, and Mathew Clayton, 18, from Carshalton College, are now in the London heats of the 2012/13 Brakes Student Chef Team Challenge.

The hospitality and catering students created a meal for four of goat’s cheese filo tart and quince poached in red wine, followed by a main of pan-seared duck with seasonal greens, pancetta, a celeriac and parsnip puree and redcurrant jus.

The last course was deep fried pasta with a mango and passion fruit mousse.

The aspiring chefs submitted details of how they would prepare each course and the costs, working to a budget of £10 a head.

“They worked really hard on coming up with an impressive three-course meal and we are all delighted they have made it through to the next round,”  said Tom Hall, Carshalton’s catering team leader.

The London heats will be held on January 26.

Beauty therapy students from across Kent showcased their make-up skills at a new salon academy.

East Kent College hosted a competition for 12 students to transform a model using the theme of fantasy or fashion catwalk. The contest lasted three hours.

Four East Kent students joined K College, Canterbury College and MidKent College students to impress a panel of judges that included make-up artists, hairdressers, former students and Jillian Silverthorne from the Vocational Training Charitable Trust (VTCT).

Tarron Pearson, a make-up artist and judge, said: “This competition has been an inspiration for the region — we’ve been very impressed by the standard we’ve seen so early in the academic year, and the facilities are fantastic.”

East Kent swept the board in the fantasy class, with Ebony Barkes taking top prize and fellow students Charlotte Huntley, Faye-Marie Ball and Oceana Lucas all highly commended.

In the fashion catwalk category, Sofia Eljeaaich of MidKent won the fashion catwalk; Emma-Jane Grieve, also of MidKent, was highly commended.

Martin Newman, business manager of the competition sponsor City & Guilds, presented the prizes.

A photojournalist has won a national award after capturing the reality of Britain’s drinking culture.

Joel Goodman clinched the student image of the year in the National Council for the Training of Journalists’ (NCTJ) awards for excellence after snatching images outside a popular Manchester nightclub of passed-out revellers, fights, and paramedics and police at work.

The 36-year-old, who just completed a press photography and journalism course at Norton College, part of The Sheffield College, was presented his accolade by veteran broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson.

Joel said: “I’m chuffed to bits. It’s really flattering to have won this award. The course has been great. It has a strong reputation, being highly regarded among most press photographers and has provided a terrific opportunity for me.”

Andrew Cropley, Norton’s principal, congratulated Joel on his “fantastic success”.

The Sheffield College is one of only two colleges nationally offering the NCTJ–accredited press photography and photojournalism qualification.

Midland construction students have been transforming neglected land into a play area for local schoolchildren.

North Nottinghamshire College students built a log cabin for environmental work and a pond for North Wheatley Primary School. Future plans include a lookout tower, an area for den building, a play tunnel and a range of outdoor musical instruments made from reclaimed materials.

“Most of the young people on the programme have come to college having been out of education for some time and have returned to learn valuable vocational and life skills,” said Mick Putland, a college project worker.

“This project has enabled them to practise their construction skills and has increased their employability skills by giving them the opportunity to gain experience of construction in the field.”

Joanna Hall, North Wheatley’s headteacher, said: “It will all make such a difference to our pupils. We are extremely privileged to have the opportunity of developing such great community spirit by working closely with
the college.”

Future space stars took a trip to the House of Commons to rub shoulders with scientists.

Twelve students from Loughborough College’s space engineering programme for pupils aged over 16, the first in the country, gave a demonstration to Science Minister David Willetts and heard from Professor Brian Cox on the importance of space education.

Anu Ojha, director of education at the National Space Academy and a teacher on the course, said: “This is a very special group of students who have been chosen for a unique course. They have access to personnel and equipment at the college and the National Space Centre that would be the envy of any sixth-former. There are some incredibly exciting opportunities ahead of them in a dynamic industry.”

The reception was hosted by the parliamentary space committee. Phillip Lee, its executive vice-chair, said: “It is clear that space has a key and growing role, both in inspiring and lifting the aspirations of young people and in boosting the skills base needed for the UK’s knowledge-driven economy.

“This unique and innovative course provides an exciting pathway to further study and to  industry, and addresses the country’s urgent need for more engineers and scientists.”

London students won a mayoral seal of approval when they created scale models of the capital’s landmarks for a float.

Carpentry, painting and decorating students from Barking & Dagenham College made replicas of the Shard, the Gherkin, Tower Bridge, the Millennium Wheel and Tower 42 at Canary Wharf for London’s New Year’s Day parade.

Anthony Ramsay, the borough mayor, and Jeanne Alexander, mayoress, gave the students just 10 days’ notice before they popped into the college to look over the iconic creations.

“The mayor inspected the models and expressed his gratitude and said that the students’ work was to ‘a very high standard’,” said Tony Carruthers, the college’s curriculum manager for building crafts.

“They have done a great job and we are very proud of what they have achieved.”

Each building was completed to scale with each other, ranging from 7ft for the Shard to 3ft for Tower Bridge. The carpentry students also made a telephone box and postbox as well as giant gold, silver and bronze Olympic medals in wood.