Inspiring the Future

Did you know that "mushroom forager" is a real job? Students learned this and much more when we hosted an event with our partners Vestey Holdings Limited Vestey Foods UK Ltd to explore some of the careers in the world of food. We had over 200 students in attendance, from schools in Knowsley, Liverpool, Telford and Wrekin, London, Lancaster, Sheffield, Hampshire and Nottinghamshire! An introduction from Faythe Ginger, People and Culture Manager, covered jobs from cake designers and food stylists to HR and sales, showing the breadth of jobs available in the industry. Our professional spotlight then turned to Chris Thompson Industry & Retail Technical Manager, Chelsey Cheadle Senior National Account Manager and Ben Blayds Head of Logistics. Students heard from these volunteers about their routes into their roles, what they love the most about their jobs and some of the soft skills required! The opportunity to ask questions then allowed students the chance to hear more about the specifics of the jobs and find out about problem solving and adapting when it comes to logistics, food safety and sales. A huge thanks to our volunteers from Vestey and to the students who listened, interacted and asked such insightful questions.  

Inspiring the Future, in partnership with NHS Health Careers NHS England, organised an insightful day for 120 Year 3 to 6 children from John Shelton Community School in Coventry.   The event began with an interactive game aimed at showcasing three job roles within the NHS through the lively activity: "What’s My Line?" Thanks to Linda Binaccioni Primary Care Research Nurse, Deepak Lodhia Clinical Services Manager - Pharmacy and Isaac Colliver Vascular Scientist, for being such good sports and answering lots of questions about their jobs so the children could figure them out!     The event continued with six volunteers rotating to four different classrooms where they shared personal stories about their roles, discussed their favourite subjects in school, and described the skills needed for their professions. Children eagerly asked questions, gaining valuable insights into the diverse opportunities available within the healthcare sector and expanding their horizons about future career possibilities. Thanks again to our wonderful volunteers Gemma Masters Midwife, Mudassor Noor Dispenser, Verity Lamb Trainee Dispenser, Sharon Stevens Apprenticeship Advisor, and Alana Wileman Apprenticeship and Employability Officer.    Students were keen to feedback on their favourite part of the day, with one pupil commenting “The most fun part was learning about midwives. This was fun because since I have a baby brother, I knew what a midwife was and what they do but I also learned some new and fun other facts and information”!

Here are two of our wonderful Inspiring Aviation competition winners! Emenet and Yusuf both got special commendations for their designs of future aviation jobs, based on what they’d learned as part of our aviation campaign with the Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom.  Our Inspiring Aviation campaign, supported by the Department for Transport’s Reach for the Sky programme is working to:  ✈ Inspire the next generation of aviation professionals   ✈Reach individuals who would otherwise not be aware of the opportunities available in the industry   ✈Have a broad impact by reaching and engaging as many young people as possible View all competition entries, including our winners, here: https://lnkd.in/epzebPQV 

3337 pupils from across the UK joined us to look inside the Big Box world of logistics last week! Three volunteers from Tritax Big Box REIT plc joined us to explore their roles within warehouses, giving a virtual insight into what goes on behind the scenes and how their roles link back to school subjects. Pupils were lucky enough to get some insider information about warehouses being used as film sets and jobs involving travel across Europe. We had brilliant feedback from the 43 schools that joined, with one teacher saying, “We enjoyed all the presentations, and we [the children] now know how important maths and IT are in our changing world.” A huge thanks to the schools that joined and all the children for their interaction and great questions, and of course, thank you to our volunteers: Investment Associate Maddy Marsden, Property Manager Steven Bell, and Senior Asset Manager Tom Stanton.

In partnership with West London Careers Hub, Aarti Jaswal, The Careers & Enterprise Company, and the Mayor of London, we’re really excited to be releasing a resource pack to West London careers leaders on 25th September. The pack aims to reduce the barriers that some West London schools and colleges face in meeting Gatsby Benchmarks by helping them access a wealth of volunteers, apprenticeships, and work experience opportunities. Watch this video to find all the information you’ll need to know about the resource pack, as well as how to access it and how to best use it to support your careers provision!   West London schools and colleges, register to attend the launch webinar here: https://lnkd.in/er9Zi53Y.

To mark Social Mobility Day 2024 last month, we hosted an event at Hillcrest Academy Primary School in Leeds, giving pupils the chance to meet and interact with a diverse range of people working in the Civil Service. Our volunteers spoke about their experience in different areas of the civil service and why they were passionate about their jobs! They linked their roles back to the children’s own lives, local area and school subjects. Pupils then had the opportunity to ask them questions about everything from routes into the civil service to how decisions were made on looking after their county. Special guests included Bernadette Kelly, permanent secretary for the Department for Transport and Civil Service Social Mobility Champion, as well as the British Ambassador to Iceland Bryony Mathew! They were among 16 volunteers who included individuals from the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Levelling Up. 

This week we’ve helped imaginations fly with two Inspiring Aviation events in partnership with the Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom, one virtual and one in-person. Our virtual event, Aviation in a Digital Age, saw 191 students from 12 secondary schools and colleges explore how the aviation industry is rapidly evolving, driven by technological advancements that are reshaping careers and opportunities within the sector. They heard from Debbie Smyth Pilot at Tui Airways, Mariya Tarabanovska Aerospace Engineer and Founder of Flight Crowd and Matthew Rice Heliport Manager, London Heliport. These three brilliant volunteers explained how they use technology every day and the qualifications required to be in their role, and then involved the students with a Q&A session. Our in-person event, Skybound Careers: Exploring Diverse Paths in Aviation, took place at a school in Manchester with Nurina Sharmin Integration Engineer, Graham Strutt FRAeS Airline Training Captain & Examiner at TUI, Rebecca Andrews Airline Captain at TUI, and Jon Lansley former Air Observer for Greater Manchester Police's Air Support Unit at Manchester Airport! Students rotated between the volunteers in small groups, getting the opportunity to hear about the volunteers' roles and breaking gender stereotypes in the aviation sector, followed by Q&A sessions to ask more about their specific interests!

Year 12 students from four different schools were invited to hear from 23 dedicated volunteers at Bank of America Business. The event featured an engaging interactive treasury game and speed networking with staff from different roles across Bank of America. This event aimed to raise awareness about the importance of diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the workplace and to inspire the next generation of professionals. Thanks so much to our Bank of America volunteers Krishna Raval EMEA D&I Manager, Atta Barlas Treasury Sales Officer, Colm Carrigan Treasury Sales Associate, Greg Turbak Product Manager, Hannah Sydenham Treasury Product Associate, Ifemide Livingfont Treasury Product Associate, Jazneek Kaur Intern, Jinjie G. Treasury Product Associate, Shubanu R. Analyst, Sonja Beatrice Kappeler Treasury Sales Analyst, Alice Eady Ketchell Attorney-Fixed Income, Al (Alpesh) Patel Sr Securities/Product Salesperson, Andrew Jackson Senior Trader, Ben Sanders Analyst – Structuring, Hande Gozum Senior Trader, Jack Doyle EMEA Community & Volunteer Manager, Kristina Gemkow Business Support Manager, Maria Kordopitoulas-Sarris Project Manager, Community Advancement,   Charlotte NC, USA Partner, Milena Ermolenko GRMAP Associate, Qi Zhang Associate – Trading, Richard Carreau-Floume EMEA Grants & Business Manager, and Susan Evelyn Mann Attorney-Investment Banking. Students said they enjoyed hearing about how much the volunteers loved their jobs and gained valuable insight when getting to hear about roles in more depth. All teachers rated the event as highly impactful, with one saying, “The event today was 100% important as there is so much knowledge, they are able to take that will inspire them in the future to focus and aim high!” 

As part of our series of in person events with West London Careers Hub, this week we provided the opportunity for students at Pride Academy to meet four volunteers from a wide range of roles. They met and networked with Industrial designer at Amazon Valentino Bosa, CEO of the charity Sculpt Claire Bonham, Workforce director in the NHS Ben Morrin and an artist metal worker Jacky Oliver!    Our volunteers led students in three different activities focused on problem solving, creativity and communication, through tower building, increasing their chances of survival if lost at sea and pitching new products!

One of our recent events in partnership with Bank of America Business saw 315 students from 21 different schools in the UK take the opportunity to meet 3 volunteers via a virtual event focused on the different careers in an investment bank. Students heard from three volunteers who work in very different areas of investment banking, each of whom spoke about their own path to the role, the skills required and what their job now involves. Thanks to Director & Assistant General Counsel, Legal Chantelle A. Forster, Global Banking Apprentice Ryan Johnstone and Global Markets Technology Analyst Aishwarya Garg Pandey. Of the students that took part, 100% agreed they feel better informed about post-school options and pathways and more inspired or motivated about their future! It’s wonderful to hear the impact that events like this have on students’ choices, confidence and careers knowledge!