Last Thursday we hosted the first ever Enrichment Partnership Pilot Networking Lunch in Tameside which was held at the Office and Tech Space in Dukinfield. We held this event to launch the EPP project we have been working on in Tameside since February this year and to give local schools, organisations and businesses a chance to network and create relationships which will then improve enrichment opportunities and experiences for the young people of Tameside.
We had a great turnout with close to 80 attendees all from different types of organisations, businesses, schools and different sectors in Tameside. After welcoming guests, Beth started the presentation with introducing who we are, what we do and then moving onto what the Enrichment Partnership Pilot is and what our aims are for this project. Beth also highlighted what young people in Tameside want in terms of enrichment and what staff want in schools in terms of enrichment. These findings from the reports we performed in the high schools in Tameside April/May were displayed around the room so that people could see what is needed in schools to develop their enrichment provision.
To highlight the scale of the Enrichment Partnership Pilot project we had Sarah Bennet (Partnerships Officer-Enrichment) from the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award deliver a great speech about the wider scale of the EPP project. She highlighted how the pilot project is running in different areas of the UK and the impact that it is hopefully going to have on many young people across the UK and how local organisations and businesses can be part of this large development of enrichment for young people.
Then we had the lovely Sarah Power (Partnership & Quality Lead – Careers Education) from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority talk about schools in Tameside working collaboratively to share best practice and the need and importance of Enterprise Advisers – business volunteers who work with schools to link education to industry. She also mentioned the introducing of the MBacc to the education system.
Following on from Sarah we had Naomi Timperley (Co-Founder of Tech North Advocates) emphasise the importance of businesses supporting young and enrichment opportunities and experiences for young people.
Attendees were then asked to find the group they were assigned to where they got the chance to discuss and answer a pre-made question about enrichment with other professionals. We made sure that the focus groups included a mixture of professionals in Tameside all from a different background, e.g. people from organisations, businesses, schools, Tameside council etc. There were some great discussions and sharing of perspectives when discussing how enrichment could be developed/improved in Tameside, in schools and outside of schools.
After lunch attendees got the chance to hear from Kelly Burdett (Workforce Lead & Youth Mental Health Instructor) from StreetGames who spoke about what StreetGames are trying to do in terms of strengthen the workforce to engage more young people in sport. Attendees were then able to network and fill out a pledge form if they chose to.
It was a very successful event that outlined the importance of organisations, businesses and schools creating relationships to develop enrichment opportunities for young people in Tameside in and outside of school. We are sure great connections were made that will make a positive difference for people!
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