The Amazing Accrington board, a cross section of business leaders from private and public sectors in conjunction with MP for Hyndburn and Haslingden, Sara Britcliffe, and Cllr Miles Parkinson OBE, leader of Hyndburn Borough Council, are inviting parents and guardians of East Lancashire’s Year 11 students, as well as other secondary school and sixth form students, to an event on Thursday 14th October in Accrington Town Hall.
From 5pm-7pm, parents and guardians from across East Lancashire including Burnley, Blackburn, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, as well as Hyndburn schools, are invited to learn more about the opportunities available to their children.
Careers in software development, cyber security, and high tech manufacturing are among some that you might not think were in great need locally – but vacancies are currently open.
The first 100 parents and guardians to arrive at Accrington Town Hall will also be able to enjoy pie and peas, courtesy of Clayton Park Bakery, another Amazing Accrington business.
The Futures event, which is being sponsored by North Lancs Training Group, Studio Retail Ltd and Accrington and Rossendale College, will initially get underway at 9am and will see hundreds of Year 11s from Hyndburn schools discover the opportunities and future career pathways available to them.
Schools confirmed to be attending are St Christophers C of E High School, Mount Carmel RC High School, Oswaldtwistle School, Hyndburn Academy, Rhyddings School and The Hollins Technology College.
Exhibitors from local businesses, Higher Education establishments, training providers, Armed Forces, Emergency Services, and Tech sectors will be represented. Employers such as the Police and the Army will join local companies such as Studio Retail Ltd and Emerson & Renwick in showcasing their many and varied career paths.
Murray Dawson, chair of Amazing Accrington and MD of Scott Dawson Advertising, said “We have been running a programme of taking businesses into schools with our MP to showcase what they do. We’ve had great success in inspiring the young people to take up careers locally. This new event gets everyone in one place, and I can’t wait to see everything that’s on offer.”
Sara Britcliffe MP added, “This is a great initiative, I’ve been into the schools myself and told my story of how I ended up being the youngest serving Conservative MP. Great things can come from Hyndburn, and I urge businesses to get involved and show young people the great work we do here.”
Gareth Lindsay, MD of North Lancs Training Group, added “We offer lots of pathways to get people into the world of work. Apprenticeships are something the young people might not have considered, yet we have over 200 live vacancies in fields from hospitality to digital marketing.”
Collette King, HR Director at Studio Retail Ltd, said “We employ over 2000 people in the local area, in all kinds of careers including a large IT department. I’m really looking forward to showcasing this to our future workforce here in Hyndburn.”
Morag Davies, Centre Principal for Accrington & Rossendale College added, “We want to make sure young people get the best educational outcome that they can. We have so much to offer at our redeveloped campus following our £4m investment, and this event is a fantastic way to showcase to all our year 11s at once.”
#AmazingAccrington have launched a new area of their website for Opportunities, showcasing education, training, apprenticeships and opportunities. This can be found here: opportunities.amazingaccrington.co.uk
