Students see their footwear designs come to life thanks to Church & Co

Four lucky Footwear students from the University of Northampton are having their own shoe designs made up after successfully winning sponsorship from renowned local shoe manufacturer, Church & Co.

Heather Jenkinson, Laura Pickering, Stacie Franks and Adele Jolley are all third years studying on the BA (Hons) Footwear programme and are working on their final year collections.

Each year the third year Footwear students are invited by Stephen Etheridge, Group Chief Executive of Church & Co, to apply for the Church’s Scholarship. Stephen facilitates a competition brief, in-depth factory tour, presentation and work placements. The successful students receive support for their final major footwear collection. This year the students’ concepts were so strong, which led to the four individuals receiving sponsorship.

As part of her final year collection, Heather Jenkinson is designing six pairs of shoes and Church & Co will be making two of these into real products in its factory. She said: “Having Church & Co sponsor two of my footwear designs will improve the strength of my collection. I am grateful to have received this support as it is an amazing opportunity to see first-hand how a high quality shoe is made from start to finish and even more so amazing that the designs are my own!”

Adele Jolley is working with Church & Co to have all six of her footwear designs made up. She commented: “I go into the factory once a week so I can see my products coming to life! Without the help and support from Church & Co, I wouldn’t be able to produce all my designs at the same quality in such a short space of time so I am so pleased I was one of the chosen few to receive this opportunity.”