Exploring career opportunities at 'Try a Trade' - a blog by GBSLEP's Senior Policy Officer for Skills, Amrit Sandhu

Earlier this month the GBSLEP Skills team attended the ‘Try a Trade’ Launch event, funded by The Homeserve Foundation. ‘Try a Trade’ is a unique 12-month programme for schools in the West Midlands to help students and their families understand the fantastic range of career opportunities available through domestic trades.

The launch event, which took place at Streetly Academy in Sutton Coldfield, was attended by Year 10 and Year 11 pupils. The ‘milk round style’ event was a hands-on taster session where the young people could have a try at plumbing, jetting, gas work and the use of virtual reality in domestic trade work! Our delivery partner Ladder for Greater Birmingham was on hand to discuss various apprenticeships and they also brought over imitation robots from one of their training providers…very cool!

As well as having GBSLEP representation, the event was attended by West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, who backs the programme, and HomeServe CEO and founder Richard Harpin.

GBSLEP are proud to support ‘Try a Trade’, a programme that is crucial in developing a broader understanding and awareness of domestic trades amongst young people and their families. By doing this they can get a better understanding of employment opportunities, such as traineeships and apprenticeships, that are available locally to them.

Programmes and events such as ‘Try a Trade’ are key to driving inclusive economic growth in a post-pandemic world. Of course, I was delighted to attend the in-person events as they really do inject confidence and energy into young people who are looking for their next step into training or a job.

If you are an SME looking for expert business advice on how to have your training and skills needs met contact the GBSLEP Skills Hub at 0800 032 3488 or email [email protected].?