The Beyond 16 Careers Fair, for students looking at their options after Year 11, took place at the National College for Nuclear, at the Lakes College in Workington.

Hosted by local charity and leading employability expert Inspira it was a chance for young people to meet apprenticeship providers, major employers, sixth forms and college representatives to find out more about opportunities on offer.

Expert careers advisers from Inspira, along with 40 local organisations, were on hand to offer help and support to those attending the event.

Alice Wallam, a Year 12 student at Keswick School, said: “Because of Covid I missed out on work experience, employer days in school and mock interview days. I am not sure if I want to go to university so I wanted to know more about what I could do locally after sixth form.

“This has been a fantastic event that has allowed me to identify different options that I can apply for after sixth form and make contact with key employers in West Cumbria. I have had a couple of offers of work experience from talking to employers and have details of different events like Appfit and the React Engineering summer scheme that will really help me to develop. I can’t thank Inspira enough for arranging the evening as it has really helped me.”

Parents said the event helped give them and their children insight into a range of different companies and organisations to know what opportunities were available.

Some of the organisations who attended included Sellafield, Cumbria Tourism, Energus, Lakes College, Myerscough College, University of Cumbria, Cumbria County Council, Gen 2, Milburns Solicitors, React, Kaefer, James Core, Cavendish Nuclear, and all the local sixth form colleges.

Catherine Wilson, Careers and Admissions Manager at Lakes College, said: “It was a fantastic event. It was great to see students from our local schools really interested in their next steps.”

Jessica Douglas, People and Skills Recruitment Coordinator at Energus, said: “It was good to speak to different students and inspire them for their next steps after school. It’s been great to raise awareness around apprenticeships.”

Deborah Naylor, Inspira Area Operations Manager, said: “Hosting events like this allow us to showcase the number of options out there for young people in West Cumbria.

“There is such a variety and it can be overwhelming sometimes, so we find that these kinds of events are really beneficial. It helps to put a face to a company name.

“Young people have had a hard time over the last few years with Covid and we want to help them get out there and find their next steps, whether that be in education or work.”

Inspira is a charity and leading employability skills expert, providing free professional careers advice and guidance to help people develop the skills they need to secure better employment, with offices in Whitehaven and Workington.

For more information, please visit: https://www.inspira.org.uk/