Coventry Building Society Arena Opens Its Doors to Over 1,000 Community Visitors
Nicholas Chamberlaine School in Bedworth
More than 870 people have had the opportunity to enjoy educational tours of Coventry Building Society Arena as the venue opens its doors wider to the local community.
The venue will have hosted 34 tours by the end of the year for the community with children, adults and representatives visiting from schools, colleges, community groups, charities local businesses.
The expansion of the programme comes in the venue’s 20th anniversary year, with the initiative also including visiting organisations and groups where they are based.
The Arena organises a variation of tours depending on the group, with groups ranging five up to 50 guests, and since October 2024 the programme has reached over 1,000 people.
The tour for children focuses on football as the home of Coventry City, while also touching on its proud history of live music and events.
For schools, colleges and universities, the aim is to provide an insight into how the venue works and delivers events, from a business, sport and events management perspective.
Mark O’Shea, catering and experience director at Coventry Building Society Arena, leads the tours and discusses with students subjects such as planning, finance, marketing and what it is like to work at a multi-purpose venue.
This month the venue hosted visits for two schools, including The Emscote School in Warwick and Nicholas Chamberlaine School in Bedworth.
The Emscote School provides education for year 7 to 11 students who are unable to attend a mainstream education setting, with a group of around 20 students visiting Coventry Building Society Arena.
Simrut Kang, a business studies teacher at the school, said: “It was a really special day for our students and the tour brought their business and PE lessons to life. They had the opportunity to see the scale of the operation and understand the work that goes into running a large venue.
“It’s something we are already referring back to in lessons and it’s given them a real-world insight that is hard to replicate in the classroom.”
Nicholas Chamberlaine School is a secondary school and sixth form, and the visit formed part of its Wide Horizons programme, which aims to give students experiences beyond their local area.
Joanne Loxam, Subject Leader for Business at Nicholas Chamberlaine School, said: “This was a brilliant opportunity for around 40 of our Business and Sport sixth form students to explore what lies beyond the local area and gain a real understanding of the opportunities available to them in the future.
"One student described it as ‘better than Christmas’ – which shows just how much the group enjoyed the day!”
Other organisations that have enjoyed educational tours this year have included groups run by Sky Blues in the Community, Coventry University, scout and beaver groups, Coventry College, sports teams, Warwick Business School and many more.
Mark added: “Over the last two years we have put a lot of work into opening our doors to new communities, be that local schools, community groups or charities.
“The aim is to get across what it feels like to work here and build an understanding of the work that goes in to running a multi-purpose venue for sport, entertainment and business.
“We are committed to continuing to expand our community tours programme and next year will surpass the 100-tour milestone since launching the initiative. As a venue we are at the heart of the community here in Coventry and we are always looking to give back wherever we can.”
To find out more about the Arena’s work in the community visit www.coventrybuildingsocietyarena.co.uk/community
