Loughborough's living, breathing show home

It’s not often drama students get to stay in the lap of luxury, but for two lucky third year students from De Montfort University in Leicester, that’s exactly what they will be doing on 3 and 4 March, thanks to Leicester-based developer Jelson Homes. Sampling a brand new, two-bedroom apartment at the developer’s Great Central Square development in Loughborough, the friends – Jack Wilkin and Rebecca Wood – will be test driving the property and bringing it to life using their improv acting skills via a series of live videos and vlogs, as well as meeting and greeting visitors throughout the weekend.

Linking up with students to promote a development is a first for Leicestershire’s most established home builder, and by doing so, it is hoped that it will encourage a new community to flourish here. This thoughtfully-planned event will bring the contemporary, two-bedroom show apartment to life, giving visitors and viewers the chance to see behind closed doors thanks to this unique fly-on-the-wall living experiment.

As soon as the students move in on the Friday evening, they will be ‘going live’ throughout the course of the weekend via Jelson’s Facebook page and will be making a series of vlogs based on their in-house activities, which will include pancake making, yoga and Gogglebox-style chit-chat.

Jackie Woodward, sales manager for Jelson Homes, comments: “We love the enthusiasm students have for undertaking new things and this is why we decided to link up with the University for this project.

“Following the numerous video entries we received, Jack and Rebecca were a clear choice, because their enthusiasm and electric personalities really stood out on camera.

“We’re already looking forward to seeing their Facebook Live posts and hearing reports on everything from how they’ve slept to how long it takes for the oven to warm up. We hope that anyone who is interested in Great Central Square will come down and talk to the students to find out what life in the Square is really like.”

Head of Drama, Tracy Cruikeshank says, “As two of our hard-working drama students we think this is a great opportunity for Jack and Bex to showcase their improvisation skills, meet with the public and also have fun in this unique experience.” The apartment will be available for viewings by the students on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 March only.