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Western & Barnetts Nissan is proud to celebrate a major milestone with Nissan GB, as the Nissan Skills Foundation marks ten years of inspiring the next generation of engineers, innovators, and visionaries—with over 100,000 young minds engaged since its launch.
And the journey is only just beginning.
To mark this incredible achievement, Nissan has announced a bold expansion, doubling the Foundation’s STEM outreach from 8,000 to 16,000 students annually—a major part of its leadership in the exciting MADE NE initiative (Manufacturing, Automation, Digitalisation, Electrification North East).
To commemorate the ten-year milestone, 200 pupils from across the North East were invited to Nissan’s Sunderland Plant—the heart of the UK’s electric vehicle transformation—for a very special challenge: build 300 LEGO Nissan Qashqai models on the factory floor, using a staggering 61,200 bricks in total.
Each miniature Qashqai took 204 LEGO pieces and was constructed in precise manufacturing sequence, mirroring the real production lines just metres away.
Michael Jude, HR Director at Nissan Sunderland, shared:
“To have inspired more than 100,000 young minds over ten years is a phenomenal achievement. But it’s about more than just numbers. We now have team members who first connected with us through the Skills Foundation while still in school. That’s proof of the real impact we’re making—and why we’re excited to expand even further.”
The Skills Foundation was officially launched in 2015 by King Charles, then the Prince of Wales, with a simple mission: engage young learners with hands-on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) experiences. Initially targeting 1,000 students with a single workshop, the programme has now grown to offer 13 unique courses to students aged 6–18.
The expansion will include a new dedicated classroom at the SASMI Building, adjacent to the Sunderland Plant, enabling even greater access to cutting-edge STEM learning aligned with the region’s thriving EV and manufacturing sector.
“Reaching more than 16,000 students a year will supercharge the talent pipeline we and our supply chain partners need to build the brilliant electric cars of our EV36Zero future,” Jude added.
Among the students participating in the LEGO event was a Year 6 class from Gillas Lane School in Houghton-le-Spring—the very first school to attend a Skills Foundation workshop a decade ago. Headteacher Kay Straughan reflected on the journey:
“The Skills Foundation has played a huge role in showing our pupils what’s possible. It’s a fantastic way to inspire them with real-world, hands-on learning outside the classroom and help shape their future aspirations in STEM.”
Also in attendance were schools from across the region:
As the automotive world transforms, Western & Barnetts Nissan is excited to see initiatives like the Nissan Skills Foundation and MADE NE lighting the way forward—equipping young people with the tools, knowledge, and curiosity to thrive in tomorrow’s electrified and digital-first industries.
From LEGO bricks to battery cells, the road to the future starts with inspired minds—and Nissan is proud to be building it from the ground up.
Explore the future of innovation with Western & Barnetts Nissan.
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