A GROUP of tech-savvy IT students from Richard Huish College were chosen to complete a website design project for Passion for Somerset to help promote and celebrate Somerset Day.

Ed Roper, Emi Witt, Melisa Huckle and Ryan Hughes, who all study the Vocational IT Extended and Subsidiary Diploma, took on the project back in March after being approached by the chairman of Passion for Somerset, Nigel Muers-Raby.

The students involved in the project were invited to join the ‘Celebrating Somerset Talent’ evening at the Temple Methodist Church on Thursday, May 11, which marked the official launch of the website (www.somersetday.com).

Rachel Connor, IT course manager, said: “The website project was a challenge, working to tight deadlines and a very specific brief but an excellent experience of working with a client on a real IT product.

"The students worked incredibly well as a team, coordinated by Ed who acted as project manager as well as undertaking a lot of the coding. Ryan’s creativity was a real asset to the project; he came up the design, created the website template and worked on the aesthetic elements. Melisa and Emi were the driving force behind all the content and testing. I’m really proud of their achievements and to be awarded at the Somerset talent awards topped it off.”

The website now carries the tag ‘The Directors of Passion for Somerset would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to the students at Richard Huish College, Taunton and the team at Wyke Farms who have designed and built this website’.

The celebration evening also included the work by Huish graphics student, Leala Jacobs, for the winning Somerset Day logo which has been prominent throughout the Somerset Day promotion.

Nigel Muers-Raby head of marketing at Pardoes Solicitors and chairman of Passion for Somerset, said: “We are delighted to have been able to collaborate with Huish and the hugely talented group of students. Somerset Day is all about celebrating Somerset, its products and its people and what better way to do this than to work with the future generation of our great county, Somerset."