Alan Harbinson, Ballyrashane Creamery

My name is Alan Harbinson and I am a milk reception / processing supervisor working in Ballyrashane Creamery, in Coleraine.

Last Autumn I enrolled on the new part time BTEC Advanced Award in Dairy Processing Technology at CAFRE, Loughry Campus. I wasn’t sure what the course would involve and I was a bit apprehensive when the word “assessment” was mentioned. However, I had nothing to fear. There were other people on the course from other creameries across Northern Ireland, all in the same boat and the “craic” was great. We all exchanged ideas and experiences and this really helped to bring the theory being taught to life.

Our lecturers were very helpful and assisted us in everyway they could. In my current job I am part of a HACCP team and a module on HACCP really helped me to understand the process.

After finishing my BTEC Award I completed a project based on updating a HACCP for Organic Milk Processing in Ballyrashane. This allowed me to upgrade my qualification to a BTEC Advanced Certificate The project was a really practical piece of work and helped me to appreciate why HACCP is so important. The project took about six weeks to complete and I got help from lecturers at CAFRE, Loughry Campus as well as colleagues at Ballyrashane to verify and ensure its practical use in the Creamery.

In June I was invited to Loughry’s Centenary Awards Day and I was delighted to win the “Bob Wilson Challenge Cup” for the best performance in the project on the BTEC Advanced Certificate in Dairy Processing Technology”. I’d certainly encourage anyone to do this course and there’s no need to be worried about the assessments!

Bob Wilson (right) presents the “Bob Wilson Challenge Cup” to Alan Harbinson of Ballyrashane Creamery for achieving the best performance in the project on the BTEC Advanced Certificate in Dairy Processing Technology.  On the left is Dennis Legge, Head of Food Technology Development, Loughry Campus.