Lancashire Adviser Network celebration event at the Dunkenhalgh Hotel, Accrington. Blackburn, Burnley and Darwen advisers with Edwin Booth, chairman of the Lancashire Enterprise Network and Claudia Harris from the Careers and Enterprise Company. Picture by Paul Heyes, Friday September 30, 2016.
Business people who volunteered to take part in an innovative scheme to give young people an insight into Lancashire’s businesses have been recognised for their support. The scheme aims to raise the aspirations of young people across Lancashire, and help them to make informed choices about their future career.
Twenty one business leaders from companies in a range of sectors of varying sizes such as Accrol Papers Ltd, VEKA Plc and Herbert Parkinson (who spoke on the day about their experience) were awarded certificates of recognition for their roles as Enterprise Advisers at a celebration event at The Dunkenhalgh Hotel, Accrington.
Claudia Harris, Chief Executive, Careers and Enterprise Company, and Edwin Booth, Chair, Lancashire Enterprise Partnership, represented the organisations funding the network and made the awards.
Mr Booth said: “I want to thank all the volunteers who have given up their time to work as Enterprise Advisers. They are doing an invaluable job raising pupils’ aspirations, providing an insight into the world of work, and enabling young people to make informed choices about their future.
“This is a fantastic initiative which will improve the prospects of thousands of Lancashire’s young people, as well as helping provide a pipeline of talent to fuel the business growth which is a key part of the LEP’s ambitious strategic plan to transform the economy.”
The event marked the success of the Enterprise Adviser Network in Blackburn with Darwen and Burnley, the roll out of the network and DWP support for schools across Lancashire.
The first Enterprise Adviser Network, consisting of twenty one schools matched on a one to one basis with an Enterprise Adviser, was set up in January this year in Blackburn with Darwen and Burnley. The response from the two local business networks, the Burnley Bondholders and the HIVE, was overwhelming.
The Enterprise Adviser Network is being rolled out across the rest of East Lancashire (Pendle, Hyndburn and Rossendale), and also Blackpool, Morecambe and Preston this academic year, and the rest of Lancashire from September 2017 by the Local Enterprise Partnership and their delivery partner, Inspira.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Support into Schools Pathfinder has also been piloted in Blackburn with Darwen and Burnley since the end of January 2016. It assists schools in England to provide high quality, independent and impartial careers advice for school years 8 to 13.
The programme provides advice on routes into Traineeships and Apprenticeships, helps source and advise on work experience opportunities, and provides advice on the local labour market. The DWP Support into Schools Pathfinder will be rolled out in tandem with the Enterprise Adviser Network.
