Young Chamber is delighted to have come together with several other organisations with the primary objective of ‘creating a collaborative working environment for everyone involved in careers support for all young people in Dorset’.
The group known as Collaboration for Dorset Careers comprises representatives from Young Chamber, Young Enterprise, Young Apprenticeship Ambassador Network, Careers & Enterprise Company, BCP Council, Dorset Council and JP Morgan – sponsor of the Young Enterprise DASH (Dorset & South Hampshire) Programme.
Joan Senior, Young Chamber Coordinator at Dorset Chamber, said: ‘’There are several organisations working to provide careers guidance across Dorset. We have been informally working together to support each other’s activities over the last 12-18 months. Formalising the group allows us to be proactively forward-thinking, with the aim of avoiding duplication, putting extra support behind events, pooling resources and work to our respective strengths.”
The newly formed group will give schools and businesses a ‘go to’ for employability skills and careers support. The collaborative approach, which will also draw on established relationships with other partners and educational establishments including Young Chamber sponsor, Bournemouth University, will promote all careers pathways and allow all young people to access the support they need to make informed choices.
Opportunities will currently be aimed at the 11 to 19 age group (and up to age 25 where a need is identified), with a particular emphasis on raising awareness for post-16 and post-18 opportunities. Meanwhile the respective partners will continue to provide careers awareness support to younger students, especially prior to them making their GCSE choices.
Joan said: ‘’Collaboration for Dorset Careers hopes to address the needs of all students, including those with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and disadvantaged students. The group will support each other by sharing best practice, giving hands-on and practical support, and avoiding date clashes. We will listen carefully and respond to the needs of local schools and businesses from all sectors to promote Employer Encounters with students such as mock interviews, industry talks, work experience and careers fairs, as well as larger events such as Big Bang and the Careers and Apprenticeship Show.’’
The Collaboration for Dorset Careers group will meet regularly to discuss, plan and support ongoing activity. In the spirit of shared communications, the group has launched a collective hashtag #C4DC for social media activity, which will centralise information for schools and businesses about events and activities they can be involved with.
The first event Collaboration for Dorset Careers is working on is the second Careers in Engineering event led by BCP Council’s Economic Development Team taking place on 7th November 2019 6-8pm at Curtiss Wright. Building on the enormous success of last year’s event, which saw hundreds of students and parents from across Dorset exploring the huge range of careers opportunities available at many of Dorset’s world leading engineering companies, the group will provide invaluable support through their respective organisations to impact an industry which critically needs new talent. To register at Eventbrite visit www.tinyurl.com/Careers-in-Engineering-2019
For more information about Young Chamber, visit www.dorsetchamber.co.uk/young-chamber/ Follow: Twitter: @YoungChamberDT / LinkedIn: Young Chamber Dorset