76190-89SWINDON'S founding father, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is being used to inspire young people to stay on at school. And the idea was itself conjured up by a young mind.

Sasia Marriott-Waite, 15, came up with the slogan 'Swindon Education Training Brunel would be proud of!'.

The catchphrase will form the basis of an advertising campaign aimed at getting more 16-year-olds to stay on in education.

It will feature on ads for the Learning and Skills Council, which organised the competition for Swindon schools, and will appear on buses and bus shelters.

Besides winning £100 worth of shopping vouchers, she also got to spend a day watching the posters taking shape at Swindon's WOW Creative Services.

Sasia, who attends Greendown School in Grange Park, said: "It was the first thing that popped into my head when I picked up a leaflet about the competition at school.

"I wrote it on a scrap of paper so I wouldn't forget it.

"People always think of Brunel when anyone mentions Swindon, and he was an engineer, so he would have needed training.

"I thought they would link together well.

"It's short and snappy, and grabs people's attention.

"Hopefully, people will think that if they carry on with their education they could become as successful as Brunel."

It's not the first slogan competition Sasia has won.

While at Oliver Tomkins School she came up with a tagline to promote a parent fundraising group.

Playing on the phrase FOOT the Friends of Oliver Tomkins she came up with Don't Paws, Join Them slogan.

"I would like to go to art school and eventually work in advertising," she said.

Natasha Acres, who runs WOW, was impressed with Sasia's talent.

"The slogan works well because it relates to the local area and there is history behind it," she said.

"I think Sasia's got a good career ahead of her.

"She was really excited about the project and has a good creative mind.

"It was great working with a young person because we got to find out exactly what they find catchy."

Tamash Lal