Bath Spa welcomes Wera Hobhouse MP

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Wera Hobhouse MP visits Bath Spa University’s Locksbrook campus

Tuesday, 7 November, 2023

On Friday 3 November, MP for Bath, Wera Hobhouse, visited Bath Spa University’s Locksbrook campus for a tour of its facilities, and to meet with students to discuss current issues and challenges. 

While on the tour of the building, Wera learned about Bath Spa Associate Lecturer in Product and Furniture Design, Jonathan Sturgess, who in his work as Design Director at Bath-based agency, Matter, has designed a new, sustainable poppy for the British Legion. 

It is the first time in 28 years that a new poppy has been developed. The plastic-free poppy is created from bespoke red and green paper manufactured by specialist papermaker James Cropper. The papers have been produced from a blend of renewable fibres from responsible sources and waste material from the production of coffee cups. The poppy is fully recyclable and will reduce carbon emissions by 40% compared to the previous design. 

Talking about his design, Jonathan said: 

"As designers, we're always looking for ways to make a positive change. We were honoured to be given the opportunity to design the new poppy and we are proud to have removed so much single-use plastic from each yearly production run. We work across all categories at Matter, from furniture to washing machines, but even for us, the poppy project was a unique one to be involved with."   

Wera also visited the current exhibition at the Michael Pennie gallery, ‘With This Breath’, featuring the work of late student Finlay Mills, who sadly passed away on 25 March 2022, following the diagnosis of a brain tumour. 

As a PGCE graduate and former teacher, Wera was interested to learn about the development of Bath Spa’s School of Education from Executive Dean of the School of Education and Vice Provost Kyriaki Anagnostopoulou. Wera added:  

“When I was a teacher, I realised very quickly that to keep the attention of a classroom of 13-year-old boys, my visuals had to be good. I became a whizz at PowerPoint and made the most animated slides I could to keep them interested.” 

Wera also met with members of the senior leadership team at Bath Spa who explained how ‘Professional Creativity’ is at the core of all courses at the University, whether that is Architecture, Law, Commercial Music, or Psychology. 

In support, Wera said:  

"I am on your side as creatives. Creative thinking is an important part of everyone's life. For the past ten years, it has been completely squeezed. We need to remember the role creativity plays in terms of wealth generation. Students all over the UK are having an incredibly difficult time, but we can continue to be persistent and raise issues through the proper channels."