As part of its ongoing efforts to educate and engage the local community around all things General Aviation, the Jersey Aero Club has unveiled its new ‘Community Hub’.
A vibrant addition to its website, this latest initiative showcases the Club’s commitment to fostering local connections, especially among younger generations. Two projects have already taken flight under the hub: an aviation-themed art competition with St Peter’s Primary School, and a creative bus stop design challenge in collaboration with the Design, Engineer, Construct! (DEC!) department at Les Quennevais School.
The art competition encouraged Year 3 and 4 pupils, aged 7 to 9, to imagine and illustrate what they believe goes on at the Jersey Aero Club. It’s an initiative that not only celebrates artistic expression but also builds awareness of the Club’s role within the local community.
“We are delighted to engage with local schools in such an impactful way. Our competition initiatives have been very well received, and it has been a pleasure to deal with the schools,” said Darrall Pullen, a member of the Jersey Aero Club Executive Committee. “We look forward to hosting potential young aviators at the Club both for the Open Day on the 11th and hopefully when some of them become junior Club members. Watch this space as we intend to launch additional aviation themed competitions going forward.”
Meanwhile, older students from Les Quennevais School were invited to design a bus stop with aviation flair. The challenge asked them to consider real-world factors such as budget, functionality, and sustainability — and their innovative ideas did not disappoint.
“A lot of work has gone into some of the entries we received,” said Andrew Renouf, fellow Executive Committee member and judge for the competition. “When you review the research done by the students into budget, ease of ongoing maintenance of the design submission, functionality of the designs, and review their thought processes it has been really interesting. Almost all designs incorporated phone and device chargers powered by solar panels, and we even received some AI-generated entries which we had not expected.”
Mrs Ferreira, Head of DEC! at Les Quennevais, praised the collaboration: “It’s been a pleasure being involved with Jersey Aero Club. As neighbours, it was super that we could collaborate. The students were delighted to explore their creativity to come up with commercial designs that could potentially become a community feature for public use in the future.”
She added: “The competition allowed the students to have the experience of working to a client brief within a very safe and encouraging environment. I’m really looking forward to seeing their work displayed at the Club on the 11th May.”
Mr Devlin, Deputy Headteacher and Inclusion Lead at St Peter’s School, echoed the enthusiasm: “Entering the aviation-themed art competition was something that we got the children to do over the Easter holidays. As usual their entries were bright, colourful and fun. The school is looking to do more of this type of engagement with local businesses so we were pleased to be invited to be involved.”
He noted that the school’s proximity to the Aero Club made the experience all the more relevant: “It was a great opportunity for the children to learn more about the Club and what goes on there. The children are looking forward to speaking with pilots and visiting the engineering department, both of which will be accessible at the Club’s Open Day event.”
