by Stephen Waite

A sport scar built by a team of teenagers was officially unveiled last week and passed its latest test by starting first time.

Since September, 13 pupils from Sittingbourne Community College, Westlands School and the charity Catch 22 have been building a Caterham 7 at Swale Skills Centre.

The project, organised by the Rotary Club of Sittingbourne Invicta, has seen the young engineers painstakingly piece together a kit after school, with help from the centre’s tutors, after it arrived in boxes.

And last Monday, the young engineers were joined by tutors, parents and Rotarians to show off the finished product.

The pressure was on, with deputy Mayor of Swale Cllr Sue Gent given the honour of turning the key, but there was no need for concern as it started straight away.

Among those present was Rotarian Dudley Cramp, who came up with the idea for the project. He said: “From the outset of this project we wanted to promote both community support and youth opportunities and I believe we’ve achieved this beyond our original expectations.

“The Sittingbourne Invicta Rotary Caterham initiative has been able to provide students with real-life learning, teamwork and understanding.

“It has been a privilege to watch the students mature, expand their horizons and grab the opportunity of a better chance to realise their full potential.”

In acknowledgement of their hard work, the rotary club arranged for the pupils to visit the Caterham factory in Dartford on Friday.