AN EASTLEIGH college hosted its first maritime careers day with a guest appearance from a gold medalist.

Barton Peveril College gave students an insight into careers available in the maritime industry and guest speaker Helena Lucas MBE, a sailing gold medalist was also in attendance.

Students attended a variety of lectures on careers in the Maritime industry including engineering, naval architecture, law, marketing, the navy and IT from businesses such as ABP, BAE Systems, Red Funnel and RNLI.

Helena Lucas MBE said: "It was a privilege to be a key note speaker at the Careers in Maritime day at Barton Peveril College.

"It was fantastic to see so many students in attendance and I hope they were inspired by the day and the diversity the Maritime industry has to offer. It can be quite daunting trying to decide what career path to take especially at that age, but I hope I inspired them to go and achieve their goals and dreams and whatever choices they make now will be a stepping stone to their futures."

Barton Peveril Careers Advisor Andrew Wareham, who organised the event, said: “Days like these are so useful for our students.

"The Maritime industry play such an important part in our local economy and students now fully understand the range of possible careers and opportunities available.

"The speakers were great and I cannot thank them enough for informing and inspiring our students."