Monmouthshire County Council has offered young people a chance to improve their employment prospects by hosting a jobs fair at County Hall. The council organised the event, entitled Engage – Where Next, It’s Your Choice, with the aim of providing information on employment, training and further opportunities to enable young people to make informed choices for the future.
Over one hundred youngsters from local secondary schools as well as young people not in education, employment or training participated in activities led by the Monmouthshire Youth Service, Monmouthshire Housing Association, Talk Training, Monmouthshire Leisure Services, Coleg Gwent and SOLAS Cymru, an organisation providing housing and support for the homeless.
A representative from SOLAS said: “It was encouraging to see so many agencies from Monmouthshire come together to promote and showcase the wide range of services accessible to young people not in education, employment or training.”
Young people chatted with training providers and local entrepreneurs in an informal setting and gained an insight into future opportunities and the wide range of options. Careers Wales was also on hand to give impartial careers advice when required.
Careers Wales Regional Manager Cath Lewis also praised the event, saying: “This was an excellent, dynamic, well-organised opportunity for Careers Wales Gwent working in partnership with Monmouthshire’s 14-19 Learning Pathways Network and Children and Young People’s Partnership to support young people with their transition into education, employment or training. Our stands provided impartial careers information, advice and guidance on the learning and employment options available in Monmouthshire as well as information on our Youth Gateway support programme. By supporting young people in making informed and realistic career decisions this will ensure individuals choose an appropriate way forward. The feedback from the young people indicated that this was a great opportunity to talk about their next steps and in many instances move on to the relevant provider on another stand – everything under one roof! We look forward to next year’s event!”
Connecting with young people who are not in education, employment or training is extremely important to both Monmouthshire’s 14-19 Learning Pathways Network and the Children and Young People’s Partnership. Over the next three years the council hopes to give these youngsters the best opportunities with the support of the14-19 Learning Pathways programme.
For more information about 14-19 Learning Pathways contact: Charlotte Brown, 14-19 Transition Worker on 01633 644454 or 07900 052169 or Colin Gingell (01633 644518).
