Military students join Covid army

MILITARY students on Tyneside have shown their support for fellow students by signing up to help with a Covid testing programme.

Leaners at Military Preparation College (MPC) Newcastle have joined forces with Newcastle College.

And they will now spend three days a week as Covid Marshalls, directing students to and from the College’s testing site.

MPC Newcastle is one of 35 across England and Wales, providing a range of academic, functional and health and fitness courses along with training in physical fitness, public speaking and communication.

The MPCs are unique in that all their instructors are ex-British Armed Forces personnel, who use their military backgrounds to help learners set and reach the targets that will progress them to their chosen careers.

Now, between Monday and Wednesday each week, around 15 to 20 MPC students will take time out from their own training, at their base at Newcastle Eagles Community Arena, Scotswood Rd, to help support students at the College.

MPC Newcastle Regional Operations Manager Laurence Corbett said his team was “delighted to be able to support a neighbouring college.

“We teach our students that a military life is about service – at home and abroad,” he said.

“Teamwork is a big part of military ethos and it is more important than ever that every single one of us helps where we can.”

Since their formation in 1999, MPCs across England Wales have prepared more than 4000 young people for a military career and helped at least a further 12,000 into other areas of employment and training.