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They have a unique flexible 6-month opportunity for a young person aged 16 to 24 years from Dundee or Angus, to be mentored by the club.

The opportunity includes monthly one-to-one mentoring sessions with Dundee Stars Head Coach Omar Pacha. In addition to this they will have the opportunity to experience other elements of the Dundee Stars Business, such as business development, marketing, events management and sports health and wellbeing.

This is a very flexible opportunity and will be delivered to suit the time commitment the young person can make. It is open to young people whether at school or college, working, in training or unemployed. It can be delivered face to face at Dundee Ice Arena, virtually through Teams/ Zoom or Google Meet – or as a blend of both.

To apply for this opportunity young people should submit a written statement of no more than 250 words or a video no longer than 2 minutes long. Applications should outline why they want this opportunity, what they hope to gain form the mentorship and how it will help them with their future or current career.

Applications should be emailed to DYW Dundee & Angus at contact@dywtaycities.co.uk by 7th September 2021.

Please note there is no payment to the young person attached to this opportunity.

Find out more about the background of the mentorship here

Age and a lack of experience were identified as two other barriers young people face when trying to join the workforce, in a survey of 200 local young people, attributed to the lack of opportunity in obtaining work experience and internships in the wake of the pandemic.

The study was carried out in a bid to better understand the challenges facing those entering the workforce for the first time as DYW aims to help young people step-into the world of work by providing contextualised learning opportunities, bridging the gap between employers and education.

Partnering with Dundee Stars, DYW Dundee & Angus hope to showcase some of the ways that confidence, communication and digital skills, the top three most important skills young people identified as feeling they needed to help their careers, can be developed. The mentorship will begin prior to the start of the season in September, allowing the mentee to see the season build up and behind the scenes, meet the players and also shadow various roles within the back room and media team.

Alison Henderson, Chair of the Regional DYW D&A Board, said: “This study has given us the opportunity to gain insight into the challenges facing our young people when the usual support systems have had to adapt due to Covid limitations.

“Our young people are having a crisis of confidence with one-in-five not knowing how to gain the skills they feel they are lacking, further cementing the importance of working with the next generation of our local workforce to give them the best start possible.

“The survey highlighted sports, health, and social care as the most popular sector for young people, and so we are thrilled to announce our partnership with professional ice hockey team, Dundee Stars, offering the chance for one young person to win a six-month mentorship.

“DYW has vast experience connecting with local employers to help equip young people with the skillset needed for success in the workplace, with access to work based learning opportunities, including developing transferable skills such as communication and teamwork. This mentorship embodies that mindset of skills development.”

The opportunity includes monthly one-to-one mentoring sessions with Dundee Stars Head Coach Omar Pacha, alongside the chance to experience various elements of the Dundee Stars Business, everything from events management to team training and marketing.

Omar Pacha said: “The winner will get the chance to experience different aspects of Dundee Stars business and team, allowing them to interact with a wide range of roles and help them make an educated choice about their next steps in life. Running a successful sporting team takes input from a vast array of experts so this is a way of getting insight in a compressed way that could truly help shape their future career path.”

To enter anyone aged 16 to 24 living in Dundee & Angus is being asked send in a video or written entry to contact@dywtaycities.co.uk stating why they should win the six-month mentorship. T&Cs: Written entries of no more than 250 words and video entries no longer than 2 minutes will be accepted. Closing date is 7th September 2021.

Paul Carey, Managing Director, MVV Environment Baldovie said: “We are very pleased to have sponsored this competition. It follows on from our involvement in the LOcHER project with RoSPA and we are very pleased with the quality and quantity of applications received. The competition has inspired the pupils to look at the world of health and safety which all the shortlisted entries interpreted through real life situations experienced by the pupils.”

Kelly McIntosh, Director for Education from Angus Council said: “I’d like to thank all the children who took the time to take part in the competition – the entries were brilliant! With more than 180 entries from across primaries 5-7, Alexandru, Nieve and Vandana’s comic strips were great. It has been wonderful to be working with MVV, DYWD&A and DC Thomson to bring this fantastic competition to our primary schools in Angus. It is yet another great example of excellent partnership working to support the curriculum and develop the skills of the future young work force of Angus. It also showcases to other local employers how they can get involved in both our primary and secondary schools.”

Blair Thomson, head judge at DC Thomson’s said: “Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of the MVV Comic Strip Competition. As the person responsible for H & S at DC Thomson’s for a number of years, I am very much aware of the importance of the subject. The submissions are all excellent, making it difficult to choose winners!”

MVV held the competition in partnership with Angus Council, DC Thomson’s and Developing Young Workforce Dundee and Angus to give pupils the chance to learn more about health and safety and develop their skills for the future.

For employers, it offers help to develop a future pipeline of skills and experience, with young people at the heart of the workforce. Young people bring organisations a wealth of talent, creativity, and enthusiasm, critical now and for future success.

Employers of all sizes and across all sectors can get involved with Young Person’s Guarantee in up to 5 ways:

Prepare young people for the world of work
Create opportunities for young people who face the greatest barriers to work
Invest in a skilled workforce through apprenticeships, training and upskilling opportunities
Create jobs and opportunities suitable for 16-24 year olds
Ensure a work environment which supports all young people and provides fair work

The Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) team in Dundee and Angus can advise businesses on how they can get involved. Hilary Roberts, who leads the team said, “We are delighted to be helping businesses to sign up to the Young Person’s Guarantee. Everyone can get involved whether that be inspiring young people still at school about a future career in your industry, offering work experience or taking on an apprentice. Meeting one of the team for a chat gives you the opportunity to work out what is best for your business, and we can help you go through the whole process.”

Alison Henderson, CEO of Dundee & Angus Chamber of Commerce and Interim Chair of DYW Dundee & Angus added, “At DACC we are great supporters of giving opportunities to young people. We have recently recruited new members of staff through Kickstart, and for the second year running our Foundation Apprentice has been offered a permanent post in the team. It is not only very satisfying watching a young person reach their potential, but it’s also good for us as an organisation to have the insights and different focus that young people can bring to the team. I can’t recommend it highly enough.”

Whether you currently provide opportunities for young people, or you’d like to start getting involved, there are options available, and the DYW team can provide more information and support. Contact the team by emailing contact@dywtaycities.co.uk and they will be happy to meet with you.

The waste management company aims to resource the world and constantly analyses what the planet will look like in 2050. Veolia’s team is passionate about educating young people on the circular economy.

Current S2 pupils will be 42-years-old in 2050, an age which sees many professionals step into their first leadership role.

Veolia operates a ‘Future Leaders’ programme which challenges pupils to develop their leadership skills, work as a team and communicate effectively.

SDS introduced Veolia to the Dundee and Angus Developing the Young Workforce team and has worked with them throughout the highly successful project.

“Hopefully, this story will hopefully inspire other employers to engage and stimulate future leaders within their sector.”

Veolia delivered a series of engagement days to Arbroath High School pupils. These proved so successful the company worked with the school to develop an application process for those interested young people, which further helped to equip second year pupils with vital skills for the future.

The successful pupils took part in a workshop with a circular economy start-up business, which includes a jewellery maker, and attended a two-night residential trip which focused on developing leadership and teambuilding skills.

These programmes received great feedback from everyone involved and Veolia has offered funding for a second trip when Covid-19 restrictions are eased.