As always, we care about helping young people move forward and amplifying their voices.
Summer Careers Festival was a collaboration between Lyfeproof UK (our youth engagement partner) and West Midlands Combined Authority. Between June and August 2021, we hosted over 20 events, including webinars, workshops, career fairs, and more. These events were hosted by young people for young people to amplify their latest challenges relating to finding opportunities – especially those not in education, employment, or training.
Summer of Engagement:
- 26,166 views on our workshops as of September 2021.
- 47,200 accounts reached with the #FindYourFuture campaign on Instagram.
- 1,887 clicks on our weekly job and training opportunities posts.
- 26,166 young people engaged virtually.
- 87 young people engaged physically.
- 18 young people were given paid work hosting and supporting the project.
- 4 local workplace tours were conducted (more to come), with over 3000 social media views
Youth Experience:
We had a team of young people engaging with the programme to facilitate workshops, create promotional content, and join outreach activities. Here’s their stories:
‘S’ has engaged with Lyfeproof since the Covid-19 social restrictions affected their wellbeing. In Spring 2021, they quit college as their mental health affected the feeling that their course wasn’t right for them. ‘S’ didn’t have a job during the summer too. Summer Careers Festival allowed us to give them paid work in hosting workshops, creating social media content, and connecting with other young people. From our mentoring, they found a suitable course and went back to further education in September 2021. They said the programme helped them to get a new perspective on opportunities for them and the spaces to talk, think, and reflect were valuable.
We reached out to ‘J’ on Instagram to share information about the Summer Careers Festival. Before the festival, they dropped out of University due to issues with student loans. They worked part-time but were unsure of their future. They shared their interest in hosting and would like to join the conversations. So, they hosted multiple workshops and workplace tours, directly connecting with local businesses. As of September 2021, they are in higher education. After working with us, they connected with recruitment agencies we engaged with during the programme.
Organisations:
We held several conversations with West Midlands-based recruiters, training providers, youth engagement organisations, and public services like Make UK, Creative Alliance, West Midlands Police, etc. to engage young people in opportunities. Also, we listened to the challenges they are encountering, specifically a lack of applicants received for openings. As a result, we were able to discuss youth engagement techniques and the insights we gathered through our activities.
Get In Touch!
Have you got a project and need help with youth engagement? Please contact hello@aspire4u.co.uk for more information. You can also catch-up on any of our #SummerCareersFestival2021 events through Youtube and Instagram #FindYourFuture here.
Written by Team Aspire4u
The Mindset-Led Organisation
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We are a not for profit community engagement organisation. We use the arts to develop mindsets to improve well-being, foster financial literacy and give people employability skills.
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