Tributes were paid to City College principal Phil Frier at a farewell lunch today to mark his forthcoming retirement.
Brighton and Hove Albion director Martin Perry thanked Mr Frier for his contribution not just to the college but to the wider community.
Mr Perry told an audience of the great and the good from across Brighton and Hove that Mr Frier had shown a genuine passion for the students.
And he was passionate about creating opportunities for them, Mr Perry said at the lunch at the Albion’s Amex Community Stadium in Falmer.
Mr Perry was chairman of City College Brighton and Hove when Mr Frier went for the job of principal.
He said: “It turned out to be a brilliant appointment. What he has achieved has been outstanding.
“Phil has transformed that college and created so many opportunities for young people there and throughout the city.”
He said that Mr Frier had played an important part in the Albion’s Want to Work scheme and that it was being extended to Adur with the launch taking place today (Friday 15 June).
He added that Mr Frier would not be resting in retirement: “He’s off to climb Everest. If we all try to climb our own Everest, that’s not a bad way to live our lives.”
Mr Frier thanked family, friends and supporters across Brighton and Hove and praised the strong spirit of partnership working across the city.
He also praised the governors, staff and students who had helped the college make it into the top ten out of nearly 250 further education colleges throughout the country.
He announced that Small Batch Coffee and WJ King brewery boss Nigel Lambe was to be the college’s first entrepreneur in residence.
Mr Frier urged people to support his trip to Everest base camp in aid of schools in Africa. He said that students from the college went to Kenya and the Gambia each year and used their carpentry and construction kills to give practical help.
