At Leicestershire Cares we pride ourselves on working with the business, the public sector and community partners to offer opportunities to the young people we work with. The event welcomed business members, community groups, charities, and the public sector to showcase what they do in their jobs day to day, how they got into their roles, what they enjoy the most and how to pursue a career in their sector of employment.
“I had no idea what I wanted to do in the future, but after listening to all these hardworking people, I now know I want to do something that involves helping others”
Participant
The event was well attended as we had 40 young people come to the session as well as 9 members of businesses/corporate sector attend too. The volunteers took it in turn to present for 10 minutes where they spoke about their roles, achievements, ambitions and plans for the future. This was inspirational for our young people as the majority of them aren’t sure what career path they would like to go down.
“Azra and Aidan did a really good job in getting different people from different backgrounds to speak to us about the importance of knowing what there is out there, if I didn’t attend today, I would have never known I wanted to work for the Ambulance Service in the future.”
The young people were empowered to ask questions to the professionals talking as they felt like they knew somewhat about the roles but didn’t have too much insight about. One young person was under the impression he couldn’t apply to the Fire and Rescue Service as his height didn’t meet the requirements, however, this was quickly cleared up by Veronika from the LFRS who was clear and concise about the entry requirements.
First I wanted to get any job, then I wanted to join the police, as people were talking I was changing my mind. I then wanted to join the ambulance service and now the fire service. My mind keeps changing and it is giving me a lot to think about!
At Leicestershire cares we adopt the Power To Change Model, which takes the young people through a three step process: Power Within, Power With and Power To. We can apply this model whenever we’re working to empower young people. The Power Within element of the model showed that by the young people attending the session, they have developed their confidence and identified the importance of moving on in their education and careers. The Power With aspect was focused on how they made peer connections as well as importantly building links and relationships with the local community which helps to break down stereotypes and would lead to useful two-way learning. Finally, the Power To in this instance would be the business member’s engagement in the session and how they listened to the young people and their voices.
“it was a fun day, I thought I just wanted to play football but the whole day was a great experience”
We ended the day with a friendly football tournament which the young people thoroughly enjoyed and showed a little bit of their competitive side!
Overall it was a successful day for everyone involved and we look forward to following up with the young people to see what they thought of the event and how it has altered their views on which careers they would like to pursue in the future. A huge thank you to Sue (Stepnell), Nadia, Carley, Phillip (Leicestershire police), Kieran (Hastings Direct), Jawad (Seraphim Studios), Chris and Lisa (East Midlands Ambulance Services), Veronika (Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Service), Filltoy (UK Refugee Council) and St Margaret’s Pastures for hosting us. Also, a huge thank you to the team at Leicestershire Cares for their ongoing support.
If you're a business or an individual who would like to get involved with the Powering Up Project, please contact aidan@leicesteshirecares.co.uk
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