THE Hereford Society of Model Engineers whose headquarters are located at Broomy Hill, Hereford opened their new training and project building at the site on March 4. The official opening ceremony was carried out by Mr Philip Round the CEO of the Hereford and Worcester Group Training Association.

In his opening speech Mr Round told the assembled HSME members that he was delighted to be involved with this building as it will provide an opportunity for young people to learn the basic engineering skills necessary for the club.The Hereford Group Training Association recruit and train young people for the many engineering apprenticeships that local companies have on offer each year and he said he is very concerned at the current school curriculum and its inability to inspire young people towards an engineering career, a skill that this country has been outstanding at.

In January this year the association was lucky enough to get the 1000mph World Land Speed Record Car - Bloodhound to Hereford for two weeks and over 1,200 pupils spent a day completely enthralled by this project. Mr Round continued by saying that the problem is where do youngsters with a spark of interest in engineering go to develop this interest. This training building initiative to promote engineering and inspire young people towards this subject is overdue and welcomed.

He congratulated the society for bringing this facility to fruition as it was a major project requiring vision, fundraising and project management which was all done by volunteers. It was another milestone in the development of the society following the security of tenure received for Broomy Hill last year. The opening of the building today is a great step forward and he looked forward to seeing what goes on inside at a later date.

The Hereford society hope that this new building will provide further opportunities to involve young people and adults if they so wish in the operation of Broomy Hill Miniature Railway. If you think you would like to be involved with this exciting new project, come along to Broomy Hill any Saturday morning or Tuesday to see for yourself what local youngsters can do and are currently working on. For smaller gauge railway enthusiasts a new 7.5m long x 3m wide OO Gauge layout is about to start construction in this new project building. If this is your interest then we would be pleased to see you to discuss how you might be involved. The society would like to publicly thank the Herefordshire and Hereford City Councils, the Heritage Lottery, local companies, individuals, and members who have contributed to the funding for this new building, you have provided a unique facility in this city which the majority of other similar clubs in the country do not have.