A team of Career Connect advisers shared their expertise with parents/carers and young people this week via special call booths in London and Manchester - as part of the Gatsby Charitable Foundation’s campaign to raise awareness of technical education options.
Talking Futures is a national campaign and online resource, run by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, that supports parents/carers to have more informed conversations with their children about education and career options.
It also seeks to enhance parents’ perceptions and understanding of new and high-quality technical education options, which research shows they know less about.
Technical Education Opens Doors
The campaign launched with pop-up installations in London and Manchester to promote how “Technical education opens doors” for young people. Tim Campbell MBE, an advocate for technical education, officially launched the campaign.
Members of the public could look behind seven doors, and behind one of them was a hotline to a careers adviser, ready to discuss education options and answer career questions.
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On 16th January, the new Talking Futures ‘Technical Education Opens Doors’ campaign launched at a pop-up installation in Manchester.
Images provided courtesy of Gatsby Charitable Foundation
“We can’t underestimate the importance of these conversations”
Career Connect advisers Paul Williams, Elaine Meredith, Andrew McGregor and Michael Cato were among the professionals on the other end of the line, as they shared their expertise across two days.
‘It was a pleasure to be involved and to speak to a range of different people about their career stories. What stood out was the uniqueness of all their journeys and the significant impact our careers have on our life experiences. We can’t underestimate the importance of these conversations.’ – Paul Williams
Behind the other doors were interactive element for the public to explore, such as a giant video screen playing the new Talking Futures TV ad, two doors connected via microphones allowing teens and their parents to talk to each other from opposite ends of the installation, and even a sound booth allowing people to record and send themselves a message with their hopes for the future.
Find out more about Talking Futures
https://www.talkingfutures.org.uk/
Talking Futures offers a range of resources that will encourage and support parents/carers to have meaningful career conversations with their children.
Example resources include interactive tools, videos and top tips from expert psychologists to help parents get more out of the conversations they have with their children.
The Talking Futures chat bot is also there to help tailor advice to your child’s individual circumstances and can sign-post to other organisations’ sites and resources to help parents explore the different training and education opportunities available to their child.
