HRH Duke of Gloucester visited NEWI today

11 April 2007

HRH Duke of Gloucester visited NEWI on today (Wednesday 11th April) to open NEWI’s re-furbished Regent Street campus.

The Duke of Gloucester is the second son of the late Duke of Gloucester and the late Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. He is a grandson of George V and a first cousin to The Queen. He became heir to his father's titles following the death of his elder brother, Prince William of Gloucester, in a flying accident on 28 August 1972. He succeeded his father in June 1974.

This is the third royal visit to NEWI since 2003, when Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh visited NEWI to celebrate 50 years of education on the Plas Coch Campus. In 2005 HRH Duchess of Gloucester visited NEWI to open the refurbished entrance hall at the Plas Coch Campus and the Nick Whitehead Theatre.

The visit was particularly special as the Duke of Gloucester was following in the footsteps of his mother and father. His mother opened the NEWI William Aston Hall in 1953 and his father opened, what is now the Regent Street campus when it was the Wrexham and East Denbighshire Memorial Hospital in 1926.

Professor Michael Scott, Principal and Chief Executive of NEWI welcomed the Duke of Gloucester to NEWI “I’m delighted by your visit to NEWI” he said. “By visiting today you have shown us great support and provide inspiration to staff and students.”

NEWI’s Regent Street campus houses the North Wales School of Art and Design. Over half a million has been invested in the building development and on new state-of the art equipment.  The new buildings cover 526m² and include: wood workshops; design areas; ceramics workshops including glazing areas and pottery workstations; jewellery and metal workshops incorporating kiln rooms; welding bays and an external working area with lean to canopy which provides a space for welding.  The North Wales School of Art and Design offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees within the specialisms of Animation, Applied Arts, Graphic Design, Digital Media, Fine Art, Illustration, Illustration for Children’s Publishing, Creative Lens Media, Multimedia Design

The Duke of Gloucester unveiled a plaque marking the opening of the re-furbished campus and the Head of the North Wales School of Art and Design, Siôn Hughes and two North Wales School of Art and Design students Kaliope Keramari and Kate Condon presented him with a photograph of his mother from her visit to NEWI in 1953, an order of proceedings from her visit and a copy of a recording of his mother’s speech on the day she opened the NEWI William Aston Hall.

The Duke of Gloucester talked about the meaning of education at the opening. “Education is about understanding” he said. “I hope students put this building to good use through using their creativity to make new things.”