The Winter term not only welcomes the frosty weather and the Christmas cheer but a whole host of opportunities for young people within our Mersey region. As well as welcoming into the new year brand new plans and ideas for the Foundation.
What’s been happening?
October Event – Breakfast Information Session
The Royal Albert Dock Charitable Foundation sent out an invitation inviting all the businesses around the Albert Dock to learn about what they do and how others can get involved with the Foundation. Listening to success stories from local business around Albert Dock, it allowed others to see how they could engage with the Foundation and what they could offer to support local young people. The event was supported by Clockwise; offering an amazing free venue space, and Gusto providing a complimentary breakfast to all those who came. The event was a great success and saw 42 people attend from various businesses around The Royal Albert Dock.
Jamie Griffin, Managing Director of Joint Rail Projects said: “I thought the event at Clockwise was very well organised, the hospitality was excellent, and I thoroughly enjoyed listening and learning from the various speakers within the Charity. Great morning all round.”
A presentation was delivered showcasing some areas of work and to encourage new tenants to get involved within the Foundation. A pledges sheet was given out asking how each business would like to get involved. The event sparked so much interest from new businesses wanting to take part; either engaging with educational/careers tours, student work placements or showing an interest in the ‘Intern to Work’ programme. Many new pledges were received including Maray, Rosa’s Thai and Smaller Earth.
Lauren and Roisin from the Smaller Earth team said: “The presentation outlining the work they have done so far blew us away, and we couldn't wait to get involved. We felt the passion and enthusiasm from everyone involved in the charitable foundation and we at Smaller Earth are now excited to be part of the story. To say that the breakfast morning sparked an incredible partnership is an understatement.”
Who are Smaller Earth?
Smaller Earth are an organisation that send thousands of young people on work and travel programmes each year. Having 15 offices all around the world, Smaller Earth believe that by inspiring people to go further, they can change the world one person at a time, by providing programs that provide meaningful cultural experiences for young people.
After the October event at Clockwise it was no surprise that Smaller Earth were so excited to get involved when they heard about the Royal Albert Dock Charitable Foundation. Follow up meetings were arranged, and ideas were shared about how Smaller Earth could get involved. The ‘Go Further, Give Back’ day was a perfect opportunity for young people from the intern to work programme to get involved. Each year Smaller Earth have a ‘Give Back Day’ in support of their ‘Go Further’ project working with charities from across the globe. On November 19th six interns from the ‘Intern to Work ‘programme had the opportunity to spend the day working with the UK Smaller Earth team situated on the Royal Albert Dock.
The day consisted of three workshops to help develop a range of employability skills within the interns. By the end of the day they had produced a flyer which will promote the ‘Intern to Work’ programme at the Liverpool City Council event on 28th January next year.
Lauren, Marketing Coordinator at Smaller Earth said: “We are so glad that Smaller Earth had the opportunity to get involved in such an incredible initiative. We’re so glad we got the chance to positively impact them whilst helping to develop the ‘interns to work’ brand.”
The branding workshop allowed the interns to learn about the creative process of building a brand, looking at the importance of layouts and colours. They used these skills to build their own, which was then integrated into a leaflet that they made themselves.
In the photography session they investigated the importance of photography and how a good photograph can speak a thousand words. Working with resident photographers from Smaller Earth, the interns looked at various photography styles learning new terms and doing a variety of real-life, professional scenarios, including headshots and presenting.
In the last session, the team who regularly carry out interviews were able to share best communication practices with the interns. Communication is not only vital for every work environment; it is essential to our everyday lives. For most people job interviews can be a daunting experience, their something we may fear or perhaps never feel quite ready for, especially if you are young and have educational needs. It was a great session for the interns to get involved with, practising doing mock styles interviews with each other which not only allowed them to practise answering questions, but also think about what types of questions would be asked. The session was incredibly beneficial for the interns covering all the vital skills needed in a professional environment.
“I learnt the most from doing the mock interviews. It’s given me more confidence and made me feel more prepared for when I’ll have to do interviews in the future.”
The entire day was extremely successful. Not only did the interns get to take some merchandise from the day, but fun memories and skills that will help them in their future professional roles. To say thank you, the interns surprised the team at Smaller Earth the following day by bringing a card, sweets and chocolate to show their appreciation to the staff involved.