Sussex School Pupils Rewarded With Visit To Rampion Wind Farm

Local school children from Chailey, Seahaven Academy and Cardinal Newman Secondary Schools have taken a trip out to sea on a crew transfer vessel to visit the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm.

Four of them, Willow, Niall, Leo and Emma, have been on a week's work experience at the Rampion Operations and Maintenance Base in Newhaven helping out the team and learning the ropes on how the wind farm creates energy.

Geography teacher Amy Sharp from Seahaven Academy joined the group on the boat, saying the students were chosen as a reward for having a great year and for their interest in a future career in the wind energy industry.  

PHOTO: Niall, Leo and Willow (left to right) Local secondary pupils working at Rampion Wind Farm this week

Since it was commissioned, the wind farm has taken on 13 apprentices, nine of whom are now fully-trained wind turbine technicians, four of them working full-time on the Rampion turbines as part of the Newhaven-based team who work daily to operate the wind farm.

A £3.1 million Rampion Fund managed by Sussex Community Foundation has already supported 160 community projects, which they say has 'benefited more than a million people' across Sussex. The fund region stretches from Littlehampton Harbour in the west to Beachy Head in the east and up to the A272 near Twineham in the north.

Part of the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm’s commitment to the local community is the Rampion Visitor Centre on Brighton Seafront, which has now been open for two and a half years. It is a free, community resource providing detailed information on wind turbine technology, offshore wind development, construction and operation.

Since the Visitor Centre opened in September 2020, 44,965 people have visited,  including 140 school groups in 2023 alone. It is open to the local Sussex community and tourists to the coast.