Cult classic TV show Challenge Anneka is back on our screens - and a group of North East students got to play their part alongside Anneka Rice. 

Creative students at Stockton Riverside College put their skills to the ultimate test when the cast of the iconic TV show, Challenge Anneka, paid a visit.

Presenter Anneka Rice called on the college to lend a hand with the creation of a cookbook to hand out to the community as part of a large-scale project happening over at the health and wellbeing charity, Sprouts.

Not one to turn down a challenge, art and design students and staff at the college knuckled down to help meet the show’s pressing deadline.

The Northern Echo: Anneka Rice at Stockton Riverside College with the art and design staff and students, and college principal Lesley Graham.Anneka Rice at Stockton Riverside College with the art and design staff and students, and college principal Lesley Graham. (Image: PR)

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“This was an incredible experience for our creative students, most of whom weren’t even born the first time the show aired,” said college principal Lesley Graham.

“For those of us that did tune in back in the late 80s and early 90s it was very exciting to welcome Anneka, Dave the Soundman and the team to the college, and to get to see them in action.”

Back for a reboot, the show which first aired in 1989 sees Anneka and the team  given just three days to complete a project that will benefit those in local communities.  Hitting the ground running, the presenter must call on businesses and residents from the local area to lend a hand.

The latest episode in the four-part series saw the team arrive in the borough to build a giant food hub, kitchen and café.

The Northern Echo: Students helped Anneka create a cookbook. Students helped Anneka create a cookbook. (Image: PR)

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And provided with recipes from the Sprouts’ community, Stockton Riverside College’s art and design team created the cookbook, complete with illustrations, ready for it to be whisked off to Quoin Publishing in Middlesbrough for printing.

Art and design course lead Liz Dixon said: “This was a complex challenge for our students who are just starting out in their creative careers, but what an experience.

“It put everything they have learned on the course so far into practice, while at the same time quickly mastering new skills.”

On working with Anneka art and design student Alissa Jade Gatley, 20, said: “It was a good practical challenge and fun on the day. It was rewarding to see the finished cookbook and appreciate how much work we had done.”

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Classmate Alex Reed-Kirby, 18, said: “It was quite exciting and a bit scary, but it was an experience that really helped build on our skills.  It was nice to know that we were making a difference and doing something positive in the community.”

With the clock ticking, the team managed to get the book to the publishers just in time to be printed and ready to hand over.

College principal Lesley said: “It was incredible to play our own small part in such an exciting project happening right here in Stockton.  The students certainly stepped up to the challenge.”