Helping local students realise their potential and opening their eyes to future career opportunities
This year we continued our work with the Ahead Partnership with two school-engagement events: Women of the Future on 8 March 2022, and The Enrichment Festival on 2 and 3 November 2022.
Our latest event, The Enrichment Festival, welcomed 53 students from the likes of Mount St Mary’s Catholic School, Bruntcliffe Academy and The Farnley Academy, to Wellington Place to learn essential career and life skills. Volunteers from across the businesses at Wellington Place took time out of their busy schedules to support with workshops, office tours and speed networking.
A massive thank you goes out to all the companies who volunteered: Buro Happold, WSP, Burendo, Equifax, Redmayne Bentley, NHS Digital, Department for Transport, Netpremacy, Brewin Dolphin, Mazars and Savills. Thanks to your contribution, 98% of students said the workshops helped them think about their own goals, with 100% saying it helped developed their understanding of how to get into different careers.
The students were able to develop transferable skills and learn how these can be of real value to employers as they begin to build their future. The festival also focused on the importance of wellbeing, with dedicated workshops on sleep and money management.
We received great feedback from the students:
- “The activities were very engaging and creative and allowed us to think about our strengths.”
- “It was extremely exciting and useful to do and helped develop my ideas about how workplaces run.”
- “There are so many opportunities, keep your mind open to them. Always believe in yourself.”
Not only did the students benefit from the experience, but the volunteers also found value from taking part, with 86% of volunteers saying the festival gave them an opportunity to network with other businesses and 95% saying taking part improved their business profile and access to future talent.
100% of the volunteers said they would take part in future Ahead Partnership activities, quoting:
- “It was great to see the young people so engaged and asking questions. It was great to provide my experiences to help guide them through what can be a tricky and confusing time figuring out what you want to do.”
- “It was great to introduce the students to the concept of apprenticeships as another route rather than traditional university routes. I also thought that exposing them to an office environment was really good as they may have had preconceived ideas of what an office environment is like good to show them reality!”
We will continue to work with the Ahead Partnership throughout 2023 and if you or your company would like to volunteer to take part in our next events, please contact: megan.lipp@aheadpartnership.org.uk
Click here to read the full report on Wellington Place’s work with the Ahead Partnership.
Watch the video below for the highlights of The Enrichment Festival 2022:
