College students designed sculptures which will have pride of place outside an air ambulance charity's airbases.
Essex & Herts Air Ambulance (EHAAT) chose the winning designs for two sculptures for North Weald and Earls Colne airbases.
Twenty-seven design students from Harlow College submitted designs which were whittled down by a panel of judges to a final five.
Claire Smith, mother of an airlifted patient and a trustee of the charity, said: “It has been a pleasure to be involved with this project, and I have been immensely impressed with the creativity, flare and dedication shown by the students of Harlow College. I know that the chosen designs will be wonderful additions to our air bases at North Weald and Earls Colne, and have no doubt that they will provide inspiration to all in the EHAAT community.
“Well done to the winners, and all the participants - they should feel justifiably proud of their efforts.”
The winning designs, from student Leah Jelf and Kiera Harkett, were then selected by EHAAT crew, staff and volunteers.
Kiera’s design will be placed outside the Earls Colne airbase later this year, while Leah’s will be installed at the charity’s brand-new North Weald airbase when it opens next year.
Leah said: “Deriving inspiration from the patients and their stories was my priority as I hope to have these stories and experiences engraved into my design.
“Being selected as one of the winners for this project felt really cool as we had been working on it as a class for a while. Knowing that my work and personal interpretations of the charity had been acknowledged and congratulated was really great. I’m really proud of my class for the effort we all put in for a good cause.”
Kiera said: “I really loved it, it was a great experience. I was shocked and amazed to be chosen. I did a lot of research on the air ambulance and I learned that there is a real community of fundraisers who help support it, so I decided to put that in my design.”
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