Reignite Our Industrious Fire

The North East is the best place in the world to live, work and stay, there is no doubt.

Being born and brought up on the banks of the Tyne, which at the time was considered an affluent area, I was exposed to enterprise from a very early age. However, this wasn’t simply through being from parents of Asian descent, who are naturally considered to be entrepreneurial, but being surrounded by the hard working, industrious North Easterners that powered the world.

I regularly moved away from the North East, as my mother felt I could be better educated abroad or later on in life due to work, and on every occasion I pined to come back, feeling homesick. Geordies, Mackems, Smoggies all have particular traits that define our region, hardworking, friendly, hospitable, but above all else resilient.

Looking back at how great we were at Coal Mining and Ship Building, which were two of the most important trades that helped develop modern society, with the demise of which left lots of our local people with nothing else to do. Thousands of people worked in mines and on shipyards with their family’s dependent upon them to support the household. These jobs weren’t immediately replaced by anything else, which led to third and fourth generations of unemployment and consequently lots of young people now with little or no ambition or aspiration.

However, the thing I have learned is parents always want what is best for their children, but if they themselves have had a poor educational experience this will translate into the value they place on school for their child leading onto a vicious cycle of social immobility – whole communities stuck in a rut. The challenge we now face is line of sight and exposure of work opportunities for young people. If no one around you works or values work then how are you meant to buck that trend?

Through my role as a school governor and volunteering in a number of educationally focused initiatives there are a number of key drivers that can make all of the difference, peer and parental influence, work experience, good quality education and the development of soft skills. However critical aspect for me is positivity, and sadly the North East is all too often a target for negativity with politicians, policies and prominent people telling us how bad or poor we are.

The North East, I now experience is a wonderful and vibrant place that has a whole host of great things going on. We have one of the fastest growing tech sectors with thousands of jobs available to our local young people. Our engineering, life-science, service sectors and educational offer are all world class. We are steeped in rich cultural heritage, with some of the most amazing museums, culture and arts venues available for all. Whilst it is important to remember our past, the whole community has a responsibility to recognise the opportunities the future now offers. And it is incumbent upon all of us to help inspire our future generations through reigniting the industrious fire, celebrating the great things and showcasing the North East as a world class powerhouse once again.