A unique scheme which gives young people in Sunderland the opportunity to meet future employers and to get a behind-the-scenes look at career options, has had a fifth, successful year.
Figures released by Work Discovery Sunderland from the past academic year showed that more than 3200 opportunities were made available to the city’s secondary school pupils to work with businesses and get advice from a range of top companies.
In addition, the launch day of the yearly Work Discovery Week – part of Work Discovery Sunderland – was attended by more than 870 secondary and primary schools pupils.
Since its launch in 2013 as an initiative of the city’s Economic Leadership Board’s Business Schools Task Group, the Work Discovery programme has gone from strength to strength.
The initial plan for a week of activity which included a careers fair, industry visits, workshops and challenges now includes guest speaker days and a range of sector specific days, which in the 2016/2017 year were again attended by scores of young people.
Other initiatives included partnering with the Industrial Cadets programme -an industry-led accreditation which allows employers to give students real workplace experiences, the opportunity to develop new skills and even ‘graduate’ with a nationally recognised award.
Paul McEldon, co-chair of the Business Schools Task Group which runs Work Discovery Sunderland, said the programme continues to thrive. “Every year we are building on the success of the year before so we’re able to offer young people in Sunderland ways to make informed career choices for their futures,” said Paul.
“Work Discovery Sunderland continues to grow and we are delighted that this year we have been able to add even more to the programme, including sessions during National Apprentice Week and extending the Work Discovery Week programme.
“We are also very grateful to our sponsors, as without them none of these activities would be able to take place and we look forward to welcoming them back on board for this new academic year.”
The new academic year programme gets underway with two sector days in November, covering both hospitality and health, while plans are already being formulated for the next Work Discovery Week which will take place from 25 – 29 June 2018.
Sponsorship opportunities are already available for next year’s event. Anyone interested should contactbernice@sortedpr.com