A new Careers Hub to help transform careers education for young people in Burnley, Pendle and Blackpool has been announced.
Developed by The Careers & Enterprise Company, and to be overseen by the Lancashire LEP’s Skills & Employment Hub, the Careers Hub will cover three Lancashire regions – Burnley, Pendle and Blackpool. It will be made up of local schools and colleges working together with universities, training providers, employers and career professionals to improve careers education.
The Hub will have access to support and funding to help them meet the ‘gold standard’ of careers education which includes:
- A ‘Hub Lead’ to help coordinate activity and build networks
- Access to bursaries for individual schools and colleges to train ‘careers leaders’
- Central Hub Fund equivalent to around £1k per school or college
- Access to funding for schools to support employer encounters
One of the reasons the LEP has successfully secured the Careers Hub is due to its outstanding track record in working with employers to help deliver careers support and advice.
For example, its Enterprise Adviser Network, which matches local schools with volunteers from local companies to help boost employment prospects for young people, now has over 134 volunteer strategic leaders from business working directly with 123 Lancashire schools and colleges.
News of Lancashire becoming a Careers Hub was officially announced at aerospace specialists Safran Nacelles in Burnley during a visit by pupils from Shuttleworth College in Padiham.
With around 850 staff, Safran Nacelles is Burnley’s largest private sector employer, and was one of the first advanced manufacturing companies to sign-up to the Lancashire Enterprise Adviser Network.
Dr Michele Lawty-Jones, Director of the Lancashire Skills & Employment Hub, said: “It’s fitting that the news about us being awarded Careers Hub status has come on the day we have a group of Year 10 pupils from Padiham finding out about careers in engineering and aerospace at a world-class business like Safran Nacelles.
“This is exactly the type of high-skilled employer encounter which the government is encouraging all regions to pursue, and it’s an approach which underpins many of the strategic objectives found within the Careers Hub programme.
“Through our Enterprise Adviser Network we have already developed strong partnerships between local employers and schools. Now, by establishing a new Careers Hub across Burnley, Pendle and Blackpool we will be able to build on this success.”
Shuttleworth College Head Ruth England said: “Having a Careers Hub to support local schools and colleges will give a real boost to the extensive careers advice we already offer, and it will allow us to undertake more employer visits like today’s. All of the students have had a brilliant time at Safran Nacelles and have experienced first hand how exciting and dynamic a career in advanced manufacturing can be.”
Councillor Mark Townsend, Leader of Burnley Council said, “Burnley Council is supporting this initiative because we want our young people to have access to the best careers advice in the country. The local area has good jobs in retail, leisure, design, advanced manufacturing, and digital sectors. The Careers Hub will light the path to those opportunities for our young people.”
Councillor Paul White, Leader of Pendle Borough Council, said: “It’s fantastic news that Pendle is part of this pilot Careers Hub. We have a successful Enterprise Advisor Network working in our secondary schools and college and the chance to build on that success with this pilot will provide our young people with the best opportunities to find the right career.”
Graham Cowley, Chair, Blackpool Opportunity Area Partnership Board, said: “The Blackpool Opportunity Area is delighted to be supporting the Lancashire Careers Hub pilot. The Hub will help our students to connect with the best job opportunities, thereby improving aspiration and social mobility”.
Claudia Harris, Chief Executive of The Careers & Enterprise Company, said: “We’re excited by the potential impact of the Hubs. If employers, schools and colleges can better prepare young people for the world of work, we’re not just benefiting the future economy, but improving prospects for thousands of young people.”
