On Friday 9th December, Suella Braverman MP hosted her annual Fareham Apprenticeships, Skills and Jobs Fair at the Fareham DWP Job Centre. The fair had 22 local organisations, showcasing their work and speaking to young people about their future careers. The fair was attended by around 200 young people from local schools, colleges and users of the Fareham Job Centre. From 10am to 1pm, fair goers visited the different stalls to learn more about local apprenticeship, training and job opportunities available to them.
As part of Suella’s commitment to helping every young person in Fareham get the best possible start in life, Suella hosted this fair to put young people in Fareham in direct contact with local companies looking to help. Eager to ensure that the fair had something for everyone, Suella invited a diverse range of employers. This included the following organisations: Office for National Statistics, Barclays, Platinum Care Solutions, Fareham College, Kiwi Education, City of Portsmouth College, Reach4Skills, Warsash Maritime School, Military Mentors, NATS, Safran, Caldera, Kelvion, Solent University, Showcase Training, The Estée Lauder Companies, Royal Army, Armorgard, Saab Seaeye Ltd, and Hampshire County Council Skills & Participation.
Suella was pleased to speak with the stallholders about how apprenticeship schemes have enabled them to train up young people and provide them with essential skills to kickstart their careers. Saab Seaeye Limited, an innovative underwater engineering company, brought along a former apprentice, Sam, to explain how he benefitted from an apprenticeship. After leaving school and starting an apprenticeship at Saab Seaeye, Sam was able to learn on the job whilst earning a living – six years later, he is still working at Saab Seaeye and is now a highly skilled member of their team.
Through the reassurance of speaking with many current and former apprentices on the day, attendees were able to fully understand the ins-and-outs of what an apprenticeship could do for them. This led to many apprenticeship and training opportunities being offered on the day. In total, 26 new opportunities were confirmed, with many companies also registering young people as being interested in a future role with them.
Suella was pleased to speak to lots of the young people at the fair and was delighted to learn that some of the fair goers had signed up to take part in the apprenticeships offered on the day. There was a positive response from the stallholders too, many of whom were grateful for the high level of attendance and eager to take part again next year.
If you are a local business and would like to participate in Suella’s next Apprenticeships, Skills and Jobs Fair in 2023, please contact Suella’s parliamentary office at [email protected].
Commenting, Warrant Officer Simon Tripp, Team Manager of the local Royal Navy Careers Offices, said:
“It was fantastic to see so many employers from the local area represented, offering a wide variety of employment and apprenticeship opportunities. Whilst the Royal Navy specifically is globally deployed, it has a concentration of assets and bases in the Portsmouth area, which has also proved a strong source of applicants historically. The event was excellently organised, with local school children in attendance who were at the GCSE/A-Level cross-roads, so ideally timed to offer direction/options for their futures. We will definitely be attending again.”
Commenting, Suella Said:
“I think it’s vital that every young person in Fareham is aware of the opportunities that are available to them. I believe apprenticeships are an excellent way for young people to enter the workforce and to become highly skilled in a profession that will set them up for their future careers.
Apprenticeships don’t just enormously benefit the individual, giving them the opportunity to earn while they learn, but also wider society by enabling us to have a skilled workforce and by raising productivity in the businesses they join.
It can be quite daunting at a young age to figure out what your next steps are, which is why I was pleased to have a wide range of businesses at the fair to showcase a range of possible local opportunities. It was lovely to see so many friendly stallholders and current apprentices on hand to share their valuable experiences with all the young people who spoke to them.
Having held many of these events in the past, it’s excellent to hear success stories from the fairs. I recently met with people who had gained apprenticeships from one of my previous fairs and was delighted to see how they have flourished since deciding to do an apprenticeship. It’s great to see that there were lots of opportunities offered on the day, with many more people registering interest for a variety of future positions.
My thanks to the DWP Fareham Job Centre for hosting us, the stallholders for their support and all of those who turned up on the day to learn how they might benefit from an apprenticeship, training or employment opportunity.”
