Property developer Far East Consortium (FEC) has sponsored a net zero themed ‘Have a Go’ careers event for local school children in North Manchester alongside Manchester City Council and EQUANS.
On Friday (19th January), more than 160 year five and six students from six North Manchester primary schools – including Saviour CofE Primary School, St Augustine’s CofE Primary School, St Chad’s CofE Primary School, Manchester Communication Primary Academy, Charlestown Community Primary School, and Moston Lane Primary School – came together to learn more about the various industries and career routes on offer within the growing sustainability sector.
Held at Manchester Youth Zone on Rochdale Road, the event saw a total of nine businesses host stalls and interactive workshops to give the children an insight into the carbon related jobs available in areas such as construction, real estate, and waste management.
Interactive activities for the children included a workshop on sustainable homes and how renewable energy can be used to power a house, a waste sorting quiz, planting session, and eco card game.
Exhibitors included Vinci Construction, Casey’s, Manchester Climate, Avison Young, Biffa, CRUK, Manchester Foundation Trust, Noma and Plant.
The Have a Go event was supported by FEC, the developer behind Manchester’s Victoria North regeneration project, which will see 15,000 homes delivered in Manchester city centre over the next decade, while also improving amenities and supporting local communities.
The event fits into FEC’s wider social value commitments and aimed to raise career aspirations amongst young people in the Victoria North area. Other work FEC has recently undertaken to support local communities includes donating £500 worth of items to Winning Hearts and Minds’ Winter Warmer campaign and supporting the refurbishment of alternative education services provider, the 0161-Project’s HQ.
Rebecca Kirkland, Community Liaison Manager at FEC, said: “This is the third year we’ve sponsored the ‘Have a Go’ event, and it was just as successful as the last. We’ve loved watching the pupils enjoy the activities and envisage having a career in sustainability, a growing sector that will offer numerous opportunities to future generations.
“Supporting the local community with employment and training opportunities is a key priority for us at FEC and we know this starts from the ground up. Therefore, events like this are so important to help inspire young people and the exhibitors have done such a great job to help the children not just discover that these roles exist but also how to work towards gaining experience in them.
“A special thanks goes out to all those involved, including the exhibitors who gave up their time and made the sessions so insightful and engaging for the children and organisations such as Read Manchester who made generous donations in kind to the event.”
Cllr Gavin White, Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and development, said: “We work closely with our development partners in the city and it’s really positive when they look to put something back into the north Manchester communities they are working in – and show young people that employment opportunities are open to them.
“We know that there will be ever more jobs opportunities in the zero carbon sector and our growth ambitions mean that employment in the development sector will be a rich seam in the coming years.
“Quite often events like ‘Have a Go’ open a door to a career a young person didn’t even know existed and inspires a new dream, while creating a clear pathway to employment at an important time in a child’s life.”