Covid has caused seismic changes in most jobs, businesses and industries, but the impact has not all been negative. At NE1 CAN, a free careers and engagement programme for young people in Newcastle and the North East, Covid has unlocked our potential. One of the silver linings of the pandemic has been the dramatic and almost overnight transformation of our service and the rapid and enthusiastic take-up of the programme by a host of new students, schools and educational establishments.
We have been overwhelmed by the response and are delighted by the programme’s success in what has been the most unpredictable of years. After being forced to switch to online delivery in March last year, we have seen a huge rise in the number of attendees to our events and engagement programmes. We are now planning to use the lessons learnt during the pandemic to shape our programme for the future.
We are currently developing our Spring/Summer programme and hope to roll it out as a hybrid model, as lockdown restrictions ease, combining both in-person delivery with live-streaming of events. This way we can retain the inclusivity and extra reach we have enjoyed during lockdown. We also hope to expand the programme with more focused work with schools catering for children with special educational needs and with more educational establishments and businesses. Thankfully, we are a small and agile team at NE1 CAN so when the pandemic hit, we could switch our programme almost immediately.
We had a full timetable of events scheduled for the Spring term, all fully booked with a waiting list of potential attendees. Traditionally the number of attendees in face-to-face sessions were constrained by the capacity of the venue and the business hosting the event. By switching to an online platform limits on numbers and many of the barriers to attendance were removed. Our Spring programme gave us the chance to test online delivery and gain confidence in the new format, so when we launched our extended programme for the Autumn, numbers went through the roof. Online delivery also removed some of the issues we’d previously had with delivery, not just in terms of numbers but in terms of access and inclusivity. Being online gives a degree of anonymity to the attendees, who can take part regardless of age, gender, or socioeconomic group. It has been liberating. Schools who would previously have been unable to attend due to budget or timing constraints no longer need to calculate the cost of attending. There is no need for coach hire, or timetable re-jigging. Instead, we share the programme content with teachers beforehand and they can identify which students they would like to attend and get them to log on via a link. It is that simple and the results speak for themselves. We have had a huge uptake in attendance and the numbers are continuing to rise, with new, cross-sector businesses coming forward to get involved in the programme. Feedback from both the students attending and the businesses delivering the sessions has also been extremely positive.
NE1 CAN was launched by Business Improvement District company, NE1 Ltd in 2016 to connect Newcastle businesses and employers with potential future employees. We work to provide insights and advice on jobs and careers and encourage and help young people to broaden their horizons. All sessions are free for all schools and educational establishments to attend with NE1 working with a diverse range of businesses from the NE1 catchment area and the wider North East region to deliver the programme. Businesses are keen to get involved to help shape the next generation of potential employees, providing career insights and generating enthusiasm and interest in their sector. Changes to the programme’s content and mode of delivery has really resonated with educational providers. We have capitalised on current recruitment and employment trends to ensure the programme is both topical and meaningful for students and for businesses. One of our first sessions in the Autumn focused on Paramedic recruitment in the NHS. Interest levels were phenomenal with over 150 attendees from schools including Benfield School, Sacred Heart and others.
Demand for NE1 CAN’s services is now greater than ever. Young people have demonstrated their personal commitment and determination to continue to focus on their future career goals, despite all the challenges they currently face. We need businesses to match this commitment by getting involved. We would welcome any support and involvement the business community can offer.
