Leeds plans multimedia centre

Leeds College of Art & Design is setting up a 1m Multi-Media Centre to provide state-of-the-art facilities and training in the new technologies.

The Multi-Media Centre will be based at the college’s Rossington Street building in the Yorkshire city. The college bid successfully for 500 000 of Government funds from the former Employment Department’s Competitiveness Fund. The funds will be released over the next three years.

College principal Edmund Wigan says that the money will enable the college to offer training and education “in this rapidly developing area”. Among the first to benefit will be school-leavers aged 16 and above, who will be able to take full-time courses in multimedia from September.

Support for the plan comes from Leeds City Council and its Development Agency, which highlight the media as one of the key sectors for Yorkshire industry.

The new centre will ally part of the college’s existing computer resources with photographic, video and audio-visual equipment.

Market research is now underway into the training needs of potential users of the new centre.

The college is also aiming to involve local employers by attracting them to use the training which will be available.