Flying the flag during National Apprenticeship Week
Minerals Matter encouraging collaboration between mineral products industry and education partners
MORE than 100,000 young people across the UK will get the chance to discover the wealth of career opportunities open to them in the mineral products industry as part of this year’s National Apprenticeships Week (6–12 February).
On 7 February the National Stone Centre in Derbyshire is hosting the ‘Big Assembly’, an award-winning annual live broadcast that provides apprenticeship advice to schools, parents, students, and employers. The event is one of the first major activities delivered as part of Minerals Matter, a flagship resource for young people and adults thinking about career options, delivered by minerals industry organizations and employers.
Emily Noble, future skills manager at Minerals Matter, said: ‘Our focus on working with both industry and education has enabled us to position mineral products in a relevant and positive way. Bringing the Big Assembly to the National Stone Centre, for instance, is a coup. We have great support from the Mineral Products Qualifications Council, the Institute of Quarrying and the National Stone Centre, as well as the Somerset Earth Science Centre.
‘We are encouraging the whole mineral products industry to get behind our approach and take collective responsibility for solving the workforce succession challenges the sector faces. Every time we can engage with young people and educate them on the amazing range of job and lifetime career opportunities that there are, we are that one step closer to developing a pipeline of talent that will self-generate.’
On 8 February Minerals Matter will be supporting partners D2N2 and The Careers Education Company at the Chesterfield Skills and Employability Conference. Representatives from Tarmac, Julie Allen-Morgan, HR manager and Dustin Rodgers, junior automation and control engineer, will be part of a specialist panel taking part in a question-and-answer session at the event.
On 10 February Minerals Matter, working with Careermag, a leading careers magazine aimed at school leavers, will host a live online webinar on apprenticeship opportunities focused on the mineral products industry. Panellists will include Hanson, Breedon, Cornish Lithium and Ibstock. Each will present live to young people about a day in the life of the minerals industry, sharing the success stories of career journeys, and why an apprenticeship is a great pathway into a career.
Careermag has also devoted a two-page feature to Minerals Matter in its February edition, including case studies and an overview of the mineral products industry.
Minerals Matter’s cross-sector approach encourages collaboration between the mineral products industry and education partners, demonstrating the extensive range of job opportunities and gateways to work for young people.
