8 MK Councillors and Council staff have volunteered for 15 Career WorkOut sessions in local schools this year.
These one-hour sessions encourage school pupils to broaden their ideas about different jobs, and develop the vital employability skill of speaking and listening, by simply asking questions about work to a range of different work guests.
The most recent volunteer work guest to attend is Cllr Mohammed Khan, Bletchley East, who had a go at a one-hour Career WorkOut recently at Sir Herbert Leon Academy, where he was a pupil.
Khan says, “I enjoyed the company of the young people. They were engaged in listening and seemed really interested in what I do.”
In a Career WorkOut session 8-10 volunteers from the world of work sit in a circle and take questions from small groups of 3-4 students in a carousel of 6-minute conversations about their experiences of work. It’s fast, easy, helpful and fun!
Since September 2017, approximately 4,000 students aged 11-18 have participated in 103 Career WorkOut sessions in 10 MK secondary schools. The average pupils has increased their ‘confidence talking to adults I don’t know’ by more than 20% in just the one hour session.
582 volunteer work guests from 164 MK companies have taken part and nearly all go away feeling ‘more positive about my work’.
MK Council stands sixth in Worktree’s corporate volunteering league table, which is currently led by Network Rail.
5 Councillors have pledged or already delivered a financial contribution to Worktree, the MK charity that runs the scheme, from their annual Councillor’s grant allowance.
“Worktree is very grateful for these time and money contributions” say Worktree’s Tom Bulman, “We understand the pressures that Councillors and Council staff are under. It’s really good for the young people that they see how volunteering a bit of time helps workers to maintain a balanced work life.”
“If we don’t set up as role models for community integration, who will?” asks Cllr Khan, “Our city is growing fast. There are already 180,000 jobs. We want our young people to get these jobs.”
If you would like to have a go at a one-hour Career WorkOut, sign up here.
