Youth Ambassador Shayne gives his thoughts on the recent business breakfast. At YEUK we put youth voice at the forefront of our work, ensuring young people come with us to as many events as possible to have a say and get involved in the things which affect them.
The Yorkshire Business Breakfast was in my opinion a much needed breath of fresh air for the region. The event was well catered and well attended; a great mix of Business and Enterprise leaders in the region such as Lindsey Johnson from Leeds Enterprise Partnership, Nick Palmer from Bizenko, and Jacob Hill from Offploy were there. Also in attendance were some of the youth sectors brightest young talent represented by the Youth ambassadors from Youth Employment UK, as well as some brilliant young people who were there to observe the day’s proceedings.
Both sides of the aisle, employers and young people came together to discuss the pressing question of the day, whether the route that young people take from employment to education is the same as it was 10 years ago, how it will look 10 years from now and the issues and barriers that are currently present. Great dialogue was had about how much support young people need including the most marginalized young people in society such as young offenders, and whether there are enough tools out there to give them that chance to get into work. Emphasis was made on how key it is for employers to take a more hands on approach to giving young people support, and for training providers to find new means to equip young people with employability skills especially in a time when schools no longer choose to provide work experience.
I enjoyed the stories and examples that were shared by the group on their personal journeys, their struggles to get into work and the great contribution youth organizations such as YEUK were making to alleviate the barriers. With plans to go into business myself, I was well and truly excited to be in the room with people that were in positions that I want to be in. I was not only inspired but I realized how so many young people could benefit from events such as these, and it became my goal as well as that of my team of Youth Ambassadors to bring more of these type of interactions and events to the young people of our region. As we speak our event “how to start your own Business” is in planning mode!
A massive thanks has to go out to InterserveLE, My Work History as well as Youth Employment UK for leading such an inspiring and much needed event. This is only the beginning for the region and all of us anticipate bigger and even further reaching enterprise events, the future looks bright for the Northern Powerhouse.
Ambassadors with guest speakers and our CEO Laura-Jane at the breakfast
If you would like to get more involved with us and come along to events like the Business Breakfast you can sign up here to become a volunteer Youth Ambassador. You’ll get access to training and support from YEUK and external organisation, and the chance to have a bigger say in shaping our work.
