On Wednesday I had the pleasure of being in Whitehaven in Cumbria for a TEDx event, the overarching theme was Human Connectors.
The speakers came from a range of different backgrounds and organisations but all focused on the impact people can have on social issues. A number of speakers were from the local area, as were the two curators. As someone from outside the area I was overwhelmed by the sense of community in Cumbria.
For the organisers their aim was to put on a great event, but also to showcase Cumbria as a great place to live and work. So many people were committed to creating opportunities for the people that live in Cumbria; passionate about local business and young people.
It was clear that businesses and residents took their social responsibility seriously, it led me to wondering why this was.
Perhaps it is because of the history of the flooding that has happened in Cumbria, where hundreds of people in the community have suffered. Tara Vallente (@TaraVallente) gave a talk about the most recent floods of 2015, and how the community of Cumbria had to pull together to support residents affected by the disaster. It wasn’t just local people that stepped up to help it was also people from across the UK who arrived in Cumbria with their shovels, food and clothes items.
Sally Fielding (@sallyfieldinguk) owns Sally’s Cottages in Cumbria, one of Cumbria’s real success stories. She talked about the 3 key traits she believes businesses need to have to stand out from the crowd (integrity, confidence and creativity). She included a number of examples of how her own business has supported other businesses in the area, through collaborating and partnering.
Andrew ‘Bernie’ Bernard (@EnterpriseBox) an expert in Corporate Social Responsibility and supporting young people, talked about the number of employers who are really making a difference to help young people in their communities. By creating opportunities to build the skills and networks of young people ready for the world of work.
Ken Powell (@DKenPowell) a former teacher from the area shared his insights into the community in Bangladesh and how he sees the world as one big community, if only we lose the “them and us” culture that has been created.
Luke and Dianne Richardson (@TEDxWhitehaven), the mother and son team who put on the event both championed the local community and the importance of working together to build a stronger Cumbria for all its residents.
There was also an amazing array of people in the audience; young people, employers, charities and the Community Foundation. All there to support the event and see some excellent speakers. As I was driving away from Cumbria I thought what a great place it must be to live. No doubt it has its challenges but what place doesn’t? What makes Cumbria stand out is its sense of unity.
So many of us live and work in isolation of our neighbourhoods, not knowing the children in our street or what challenges face local people. I wonder if there is a way to bottle what Cumbria has and sprinkle it around the UK?
Bringing this back to youth employment, I believe that the only way to really solve the problems facing our young people is by working together. At Youth Employment UK we see all of our members as community members, and work with them to build on the work they already do to support young people. We network our community together and champion collaboration. We help our community to become Youth Friendly employers and build it into their business DNA.
Many organisations already support young people, but doing it as part of a community provides an opportunity for scale and real impact.
I thought about how we could make more of our community at Youth Employment UK and also how I could infuse the “Cumbria vibe” into my own community. What if local employers and residents in my town all had that same sense of community, what good could we do for the young people in the area and the local economy?
Before I close, I must just reference the other great speakers – Brian Wernham (@BrianUkulele) a specialist in Project Management and Richard Morgan (@_richardmorgan) recruitment entrepreneur and expert on the future of work.
Thank to Luke and Dianne for what was the most nerve-wracking experience of my like, but equally provided me with some real inspiration.
If you want to find out more about our work, please visit www.yeuk.org.uk our annual conference this year focuses on Youth Friendly employment and takes place in November more details here (including the Youth Friendly employer awards).
The TEDxWhitehaven videos will be available in the next 4 weeks, watch this space to access the links.
