Bromborough archaeology student bidding to win £50,000 towards his dream of building a Roman fort

Jun 8 2011 by Lorna Hughes, Bromborough and Bebington News

AN archaeology student from Bromborough is bidding to win £50,000 towards his dream of building a Roman fort.

Dean Paton, 27, beat more than 50,000 hopefuls to make it through to the finals of Barclays’ Take One Small Step competition.

His Roman Fort Project, a joint venture with Wrexham-based Roman Tours, would see a Roman marching fort reconstructed to be used as an education centre.

The winner of the competition will receive the prize money to help start up a small business.

Dean said: “We decided to enter the competition because it was offering something different to what else is out there for small businesses and we thought it would be perfect for our project.

“Roman Tours provides Roman educational tours and visits to over 30,000 school children every year, taking history off the page and breathing life into it.

“However, we wish to really bring the past to life by reconstructing a Roman marching fort in the region to be used as an education centre for children and the community.”

Dean, who runs his own business called Archaeology for Schools, is a mature student at the University of Chester.

He gave up his job running pubs to pursue his childhood love of archaeology.

He added: “This fort would benefit the education of literally thousands of children across the UK, as well as providing a centre to be used by local community groups, charities and schools in the North West.”

To find out more about Dean’s project and vote for it to win the competition, visit the Take One Small Step website at www.takeonesmallstep.co.uk/Entry/Detail/3932