Amazing Accrington launches Futures event for Hyndburn Year 11s

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, are continuing with their efforts to bring businesses, the education sector and young people in Hyndburn closer together, to improve outcomes for education and future careers.

With this in mind, they have launched a brand new Futures event, where all Year 11s in Hyndburn will be given the opportunity to meet with businesses and be given information on future career pathways.

The private event, to be held at Accrington Town Hall on Thursday 14th October, will see all Year 11s in Hyndburn – some 1000 young people – be given a free bus to the event, which will be sponsored by North Lancs Training Group, Studio Retail Ltd and Accrington and Rossendale 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 Pilkington Bus in showcasing their many and varied career paths.

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 available.

Education pathways will also be on display to inspire the young people – with a great variety of further education options, plus apprenticeships in traditional, and modern industries such as software development. North Lancs Training Group can additionally offer pre-apprenticeship courses for those who aren’t ready to go straight into an apprenticeship, or who may benefit from additional support.

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.”

Cllr Miles Parkinson OBE, leader of Hyndburn Borough Council, commented: “It’s great to see businesses and education coming together through Amazing Accrington, to deliver opportunities in careers in Hyndburn and beyond.”

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 Davis, centre principal for Accrington & Rossendale College added, “We want to make sure young people get world class educational outcomes as well as the right skills for the future. Our Accrington campus has undergone a £4 million redevelopment, and this event is a fantastic way to showcase our outstanding offer to all our local year 11s at once.”

Businesses still have the opportunity to join in, showcase their companies and inspire the young people of Hyndburn as their future workforce. To apply to be included simply email [email protected]

#AmazingAccrington has launched a new area of their website for Opportunities, showcasing education, training, apprenticeships and opportunities. This can be found here: opportunities.amazingaccrington.co.uk