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The Apprentice Ambassadors attended to present about what the Apprentice Ambassador project involved, and a couple of the Apprentice Ambassadors spoke about their own apprenticeship journeys and why they have succeeded in their career through choosing an apprenticeship. In attendance was: Lucy Jobson - Business Management Graduate Apprentice (project manager), Zeinab Bakir - Business Management Graduate Apprentice, Neave Doig - Learning and Development Modern Apprentice and Klaudia Filipiak - Business Admin Foundation Apprentice. This showed that there is good news stories from each of the apprenticeship frameworks in the apprenticeship family.

The young people was given the opportunity to engage with the employers at the event. They could ask them questions about careers or what an apprenticeship would be like with the company. The young people could hand the employer their CV and fill out application forms if they found the right vacancy for them. They also had the opportunity to talk to the Apprentice Ambassadors about the reality of being an apprentice and answer any questions they may have.

Businesses who are already engaged with DYW and businesses who are interested in supporting young people were invited to attend and network on arrival then DYW Tay Cities delivered a presentation on the activities business can support, how to sign up to YPG and some of our successes over the last year.

Then a panel session with Q&A from the audience commenced. On the panel was Mark Fleming from Dundee City Council who discussed in further detail how businesses can support work experience placements. Lucinda Mason from Dundee & Angus College who discussed the apprenticeship programme and Susan Burgess & Jess Miller from MCR pathways who discussed mentoring.

The event saw success with attendance from around 30 people from 15 local business around the Tay Region.

There was some wonderful discussion around the challenges businesses can face when supporting young people and how they could be better supported by the DYW Team and Supporting agencies in order to deliver more opportunities for young people.

The event was a good use of time to encourage new businesses to engage with DYW through hearing about the varying different activities they can support whilst also getting to hear from businesses who are actively engaged and take on their suggestions. Businesses who are actively engaged found this a great event to share best practice with other businesses and share both challenges and successes.

Lucinda Mason - D&A College “It was great to meet lots of inspiring people this morning at the DYW networking event, and even better to listen to all the great ideas and questions floating around. Food for thought for sure. We need more of this going forward. These opportunities for collaboration are so helpful and can only help us to make even better decisions to support our young people!”

Hillcrest has committed to the Young Person’s Guarantee and pledged to invest in a skilled workforce through preparing young people for the world of work and creating opportunities for those who face the most significant barriers.

Minister for Higher Education, Further Education, Youth Employment and Training Jamie Hepburn MSP, was able to meet and interact with the group of apprentices who work in a number of areas including IT, finance, maintenance, human resources and administration in Hillcrest Homes workforce.

Mr. Hepburn had the opportunity to hear from the apprentices about their journey so far and learn more about the future plans to develop the Young Person’s Guarantee. Mr Hepburn commented “It has been hugely encouraging to hear how the young people at Hillcrest are being given immense support in their roles".

Lesley Don, Hillcrest director of corporate services added “Young people are the future of businesses like ours and we need to do as much as we can to create an inclusive workplace that promotes opportunities for them to explore and succeed on their chosen paths.

“Over the last year, we have successfully recruited 10 new apprentices across our business, 30 school students have had work experience placements and three career ready students completed a four week internship. We have recruited a dedicated Apprenticeship Development Officer to ensure that we are delivering opportunities that meet the needs of young people and support them to be successful and experience positive outcomes.”

The Young Person’s Guarantee is a commitment to bring together employers, partners and young people. It aims to connect every 16 to 24 year old in Scotland to an opportunity. This could be a job, apprenticeship, further or higher education, training or volunteering. More than 500 Scottish employers have signed up to the Young Person’s Guarantee since it was launched.

Lisa Laidlaw our Regional lead was delighted to share details of the national and local DYW offer and the impact our DYW employer led programme has in supporting young people develop skills and achieve positive destinations. Our visitors were interested in the partnerships we have developed and the opportunities that young people have to learn about the world of work.

Laura Rhoney, Chief Operating Officer at Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce explained how the DYW team and the Chamber work in close partnership to promote school employer activities and partnerships. Our visitors also learned about the Young Person's Guarantee and the benefits to employers committing to the 5 asks. Ahmed and Ameera were interested in the ways in which employers benefit from being involved with the DYW programme including the impact that working with young people at an early stage can have on their talent pipeline.

Our visitors enjoyed a visit to Grove Academy and met with Mr Hutton, Head Teacher and Jenna Lees, DYW School Coordinator. They were able to explain how DYW is integrated into the curriculum and how all young people are given the opportunity find the right individual career path. Our visitors were impressed to hear first hand from young people who attend Grove Academy about the benefits and impact of their experience and how work related learning opportunities have helped them on their learner journey and on their career pathway.

Our visitors enjoyed a visit to Grove Academy and met with Mr Hutton, Head Teacher and Jenna Lees, DYW School Coordinator. They were able to explain how DYW is integrated into the curriculum and how all young people are given the opportunity find the right individual career path. Our visitors were impressed to hear first hand from young people who attend Grove Academy about the benefits and impact of their experience and how work related learning opportunities have helped them on their learner journey and on their career pathway.

The event was also to support the Career Education Standard to allow for better connectivity and cooperation between education and the world or work. It was also hoped that by running this event young people would understand the expectations of employers and feel that they can make an achievable contribution to companies.

Around 88 pupils attended the business breakfast and had an enjoyable experience networking with businesses. 40 different guests from the world of work attended representing a variety of industries. The students had the opportunity to sit with the professionals and discuss potential careers, pathways and develop networking skills. As the event progressed, they had the chance to move around the tables and speak to all guests in attendance. This opportunity allowed them to identify and access support networks that may help them progress towards a positive destination beyond school.

Many of the businesses who attended provided young people with careers advice and their contact emails, to help them develop a professional network.  This assisted the pupils in focussing on their plans for when they leave school. Pupils were able to learn first-hand about the world of work, job possibilities and learn more about the skills they will need for the future.

Through the event, employers also informed pupils first-hand about the relevance, growth and attractiveness of industry sectors, employment opportunities and progressive career options from the sectors they represented. They also assisted with the pupils’ readiness for transitioning into the world of work by informing them about recruitment procedures.