2nd January 2017
Students from Barking & Dagenham College put their design skills into action by creating a stunning float for London?s New Year?s Day Parade.
The float represented the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham in the televised competition against all the other London boroughs.
Entering a float into the parade is also a chance to raise money for a good cause and this year the Borough’s Mayor, Councillor Eileen Keller, has chosen local charity Richard House Children’s Hospice. The charity provides care and support to children and young people who are at risk of death because of a life-limiting or life-threatening health condition.
This year’s theme was ‘Lights, Camera, Action’.
In order to decide what their float would look like, staff and students came up with a list of ideas and after discussions with the Mayor’s office and the charity settled on the idea of ‘Westerns’.
Jo Price, Course Leader for Fashion at the College explains: “A small team came up with a design and we started cutting and painting shapes.
“I got a range of students to help: Art students painted the horses and the mountains, fashion students made the tepee and helped paint, technical theatre students designed and built a saloon and carpentry students fixed it all to the lorry. It really has been a team effort.”
Before the parade, the students were visited by the Mayor, Councillor Eileen Keller who looked over the students’ creations, commenting: “The float is looking great a lot of hard work has gone into this by the students of Barking & Dagenham College; good luck, they really have put their heart into it."
“It’s going to look fantastic on the day; once people are on there, it will look even better. So I am very pleased!”
More than 8,500 performers representing 20 countries took part London's New Year's Day Parade.
'The Let's Help London Challenge', in which all of the 32 London boroughs compete for a share of a prize pot to distribute among their chosen charities, was a key part of the day. Boroughs enter the parade with an act, float or other form of entertainment, which is judged by an international panel of VIPs.
