BECBC Shadowboard Newsletter – April 2024

Hi everyone, welcome to the next BECBC Shadowboard newsletter. ?It's been a hectic few months for us trying to wrap up from the last year while making plans for what we want to do this year. There are a few things we’ve been working on in the pipeline so watch this space!

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By the way, if you’re new here and wondering what we do – we are a board of young people from Cumbria (and the North West) with a mission to empower the next generation. We each work in a different BECBC member organisation and are aiming to get young people included in the conversation, both within BECBC and in your own organisations, at all levels of business.

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First up, you might have noticed we’ve had a few changes recently in the Shadowboard. We’ve said goodbye to our Deputy chair Olivia Winter, who we want to give a special shout out to for all the hard work and commitment she’s put in over her time with the board – Thank you Olivia, you’ll be missed!! Following on, a big congratulations is in order for James Harrison, who has some big boots to fill but is more than up to the job as he starts his new position of Deputy Chair! Well done James!!

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One of our focuses for this year is to future-proof the Shadow Board for future years to come, we’ll be recruiting later on in the year for new members so keep tabs on this page if you’re interested!

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The main item in this issue, and a big part of our work so far this year has been starting up and running our monthly ‘Link Up Lunch‘ sessions, which run on the 3rd Tuesday of every month. We’ve held our first 3 sessions and have had a different guest speaker each time to share some ‘top tips’ before we’ve gone into networking.

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The sessions have fostered inclusive and diverse conversations around breaking down barriers to productivity through Rihanna Smith's top tips for dealing with procrastination, to Arran Pamphilon’s guidance on how best to start managing your personal finances from the start of your career to help your future self. In our most recent session, Paul Pointon, the newly elected BECBC chair talked us through his career journey and gave us some top tips on how to make the most of your early career and steps to take to help you develop, both personally and professionally. His thoughts were really insightful and led to a really good discussion around the most useful advice young people have been given in their careers.

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We’ve summarised some of the key points to give you an idea of what was discussed, to give you a taster of the types of conversation we have:

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1.????? Get a mentor or a career coach: If possible, these shouldn’t be your line manager, or even in your team. They should be someone to provide a sounding board for your ideas and give you guidance and advice when making career decisions or wanting to branch out.

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2.????? Have a plan: Ideally a 3-5 year plan instead of just one for the immediate future. Knowing where/what milestones you want to reach in the medium term will help you target your near-term decision making to help you get there.

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3.????? Have an open mind: Stretch yourself to the edge of your comfort zone, and a little bit beyond it if you can! This is where the biggest steps in development are taken and how to broaden your horizons.

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4.????? Just say yes: Taking opportunities can lead to making important connections, developing new skills and finding new professional interests.

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5.????? Know your worth: Don’t rule yourself out. One of the hardest steps to take as? a young professional is standing up for yourself or putting yourself forward for opportunities, but the value gained from doing so cancels out the loss from not.

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6.????? Surround yourself with supportive people: Whether in the workplace or in your personal lives, creating a good support network is one of the most important foundations for a successful career.

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If you’ve found this useful and like the sound of the sessions, the next one is on Microsoft Teams 12:00 – 12:35 on Tuesday 28th May, and registration for it is live – we hope to see you (and your lunch) there!

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The registration method has changed since the last session with the sessions now available on GlueUp for registering interest and being added to the mailing list (Shadow Board - Link Up Lunch | Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster ( glueup.com ) ). Just a reminder, you don’t need to be a BECBC member to register, these sessions are open to everyone!

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If you’ve got any suggestions for content you’d like to see from us or potential topics to include in a Link Up Lunch please get in touch! As always you can contact us by messaging our members or emailing [email protected] .

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We’ll also be holding another social in 2024 so keep your eyes peeled!