- Nissan Skills Foundation celebrates a decade since its inauguration, with 100,000 young minds inspired
- Nissan announces the doubling in size of the foundation to 16,000 children per year as part of MADE NE project
- More than 200 pupils take part in celebratory giant LEGO Nissan Qashqai building challenge next to Sunderland Plant production line
Sunderland UK – After ten years, and with more than 100,000 young minds inspired, Nissan has announced that it will double its pioneering Skills Foundation STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) provision to 16,000 children annually.
Officially launched in 2015 by King Charles, the then Prince of Wales, the Nissan Skills Foundation began as a single interactive workshop aiming for about 1,000 students. Fast forward ten years and the foundation has beaten that target 100-fold, expanding to 13 different STEM courses for students aged six to eighteen.
To mark the double milestone, Nissan invited 200 children from across the North East onto the Sunderland Plant factory floor to build 300 Nissan Qashqai made out of LEGO bricks. With each LEGO Qashqai using 204 pieces, a total of 61,200 LEGO bricks were expertly fitted during the hour-long event – a rate of about 1,000 bricks per minute.
And, of course, the task was carried out in perfect manufacturing sequence - just like the real production lines a few feet away.
Michael Jude, HR Director at Nissan Sunderland said: “To have inspired more than 100,000 young minds over ten years is a phenomenal achievement. We could not be prouder of our training team who help unearth the exciting talent of the future.
“But it’s not just about the numbers. We have dozens of current staff who attended a Skills Foundation event while at school, proof that the foundation’s work today really does produce the talent of tomorrow.
“So I am delighted to be able to announce the doubling in size of the foundation as part of our leadership of MADE NE. Reaching more than 16,000 students a year will supercharge the talent pipeline we and our supply chain partners need to build the brilliant electric cars of our EV36Zero future.”
The expansion marks the next phase of Nissan’s skills drive as cocreators of MADE NE (Manufacturing, Automation, Digitalisation, Electrification North East), a £14.6 million initiative to create world-leading training facilities that support the region's manufacturing sector.
In the MADE NE training facility at the SASMI building next to Sunderland Plant, Nissan will open a second dedicated classroom, significantly increasing potential student STEM engagement for the electric vehicle and advanced manufacturing sector.
Among those attending the LEGO production event was a Year 6 class from Gillas Lane School in Houghton Le Spring – which was also the first school to attend the Monozukuri Caravan workshop, centred around the Japanese art of manufacturing, a decade ago.
Kay Straughan, Headteacher, said: “Over the last 10 years we’ve seen many of our school children attend various courses at the Nissan Skills Foundation.
“We believe that by introducing children to the exciting opportunities available in STEM-based careers at a young age, we’re providing them with the knowledge to inform their future career choices as they go through their educational journey. It’s also a brilliant opportunity for our students to gain hands-on and applied learning experiences outside of our school environment.”
Also attending the event were the following schools:
County Durham
Deaf Hill Primary School
Gateshead
Wardley Primary School
St Augustines
North Tyneside
Wallsend Jubilee Primary School
South Tyneside
Harton Primary School
Sunderland
George Washington School
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About the Nissan Skills Foundation
The Nissan Skills Foundation, which was officially launched in 2015 by the then Prince Charles II, has seen children from schools across the North East region pass through its doors and take part in 13 courses designed to inspire potential career avenues in manufacturing, engineering and technology. Courses include:
- Monozukuri Caravan – teaching the fundamentals of lean manufacturing through interactive sessions
- VEX IQ Robotics – bringing robot programming skills to fun challenges in a national competition framework
- Robotics Coding Club – outlining the importance of coding in advanced manufacturing and using gamification as a mechanism to introduce the skill
- Lesson in a box – where the Skills Foundation takes the lesson to the school, delivering a a ready-to-teach, term-long, STEM module
The foundation also offers an annual, week long, school engineering event at the plant. In 2023 Nissan launched the inaugural cohort of the Nissan Skills Academy in partnership with Education Partnership North East (EPNE) and Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust. The Nissan Skills Academy aims to fast-track 14-to-16 olds directly into apprenticeships, guaranteeing an interview with Nissan at the end of the programme and providing them with a clear pathway to employment in advanced manufacturing. The first year of the Academy will complete their GCSEs this year and, if they successfully complete the programme and assessment, will be offered an apprenticeship in September, with the second year currently ongoing.
About MADE NE
In July 2024, working alongside NECA (North East Combined Authority), Nissan led a consortium of industry, academia, employer representative bodies and local government to establish MADE NE. Industry-led, MADE NE will create a skills and industrial innovation hub providing clear pathways into manufacturing including apprenticeships, education and school engagement programmes delivering industry-informed training and education.
With a £14.6m investment, this regional project will deliver two new open access skills and innovation centres focused on delivering on the needs of advanced manufacturing in the region – with a focus on electric vehicles (EV) and battery production.
About EV36Zero
Nissan’s EV36Zero blueprint will transform Sunderland Plant into a flagship EV hub, bringing together electric vehicles, renewable energy and battery production.
Ben Guy
Nissan Sunderland Plant Communications
M: +44 (0) 7779 783 652
ben.guy@nissan-nmuk.co.uk
Lucy Farrington
Nissan Sunderland Plant Communications
M: +44 (0) 7969 182 856
lucy.farrington@nissan-nmuk.co.uk
