WestKing students support Career Ready plans to transform 13,000 young people’s lives

On Thursday 11 October, students discussed plans to transform 13,000 young people’s lives across Camden and Islington with education charity Career Ready at Westminster Kingsway College’s King’s Cross Centre.

The college works with Career Ready to provide students, many from disadvantaged backgrounds, with mentoring, paid internships, masterclasses and employment activities to prepare them for work.

A panel of students joined in a discussion and shared their experiences of their work placements organised through the programme and were asked how they could be improved.

Anthony Bruton, Career Ready’s Regional Manager for Camden and Islington, said: “Camden and Islington are important boroughs to Career Ready because while pockets of affluence do exist here, so does deprivation.

“We need to ensure that local young people feel that they can access these opportunities, and the key to this is connecting employers directly with students.”

With 31% of students in Camden and 44% in Islington receiving Free school meals, compared to a national average of 13%, it is crucial that they are given the right support to transition from education to employment.

Jasbir Sondhi, Director of Learning Services at Westminster Kingsway College, said: “We know first-hand from our own students about what they have gained from their experiences of employer engagement, confidence and social capital is much more often valued than skills development.

“We don’t want to just give them a course, we want to give them a career”

WestKing has been assisting Career Ready for over a year with their Camden and Islington bid. The college is offering the Career Ready core programme which includes masterclasses, mentoring and internships. 30 students will be starting this programme in November with the aim to expand the programme offering this amazing opportunity to more students across the college.

Share!