Last week, we partnered with Manchester City Council to host the ‘Inclusion For My Future Success’ event. The aim of the event was to find new ways of working collaboratively to better support young people into successful, inclusive futures. We were honoured to have a range of guest speakers from public services, the education sector and industry employers share their expertise and insights at the event. Here are some of our highlights!

Work experience opportunities for all young people:

One of the key themes that arose from the event was the importance of our education system being geared toward supporting all young people to have meaningful work experience opportunities. It was an honour to have Sir John Holman, the author of The Gatsby Benchmarks, with us for the day. Sir John shared how schools that have all 8 Gatsby Benchmarks in place have a 10% increase in positive outcomes for their students. Our founder, Paul Corcoran, who took part in the discussion with Sir John, suggested that similar benchmarks for employers to follow would give businesses a robust framework for delivering work experience opportunities and working with educators. The discussion was lively and progressive.

We know that some young people are failed by the system, and it was inspiring to see so many passionate individuals working hard to change this. Talent comes in many forms, and it is vital that we recognise and celebrate this diversity.

The future is inclusive:

We also discussed how important it is to create inclusive places and spaces for all young people. This means ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed, regardless of background. Jaffer Hussain, head of youth, play and participation at Manchester City Council, shared his experience of growing up in Blackburn and the work he does now to give back and make sure that children and young people have access to opportunities that will enrich their futures.

We heard from Rachel Williams, training manager at The Proud Trust, who shared the reality of the discrimination faced by so many trans young people in society today and how this means a staggering rise in suicide and self-harm. Rachel called on the room to support trans young people and do all we can to prevent this discrimination from continuing and with that, everyone in the room stood up to demonstrate their support.

Place is important:

We talked about the importance of place. It was eye-opening to hear about the work that is being done to improve social mobility and reduce inequality for Manchester’s young people. We loved when Carolyn Derbyshire, Virtual Schools Deputy Head, quoted Tony Wilson “This is Manchester. We do things differently here.” You could feel the commitment and passion in the room for making a difference in the lives of local young people.

Overall, it was an inspiring event full of commitment and passion. We’re grateful to everyone who took part and are looking forward to continuing the conversation about how we can better support young people in Manchester into successful futures.

Thank you to everyone involved in making the event such a success! If you’re a business that wants to support the next generation of future talent in the North West, get in touch – we’d love to work with you.