Ecosurety a local company that plays an important part in UK recycling partnered with Patchway Community School and this is their experience in their own words.
Getting involved with the next generation was an exciting prospect for our team, not to mention quite a challenge. We decided to get involved because the mentoring program offered an opportunity to benefit the local community whilst providing huge potential for personal growth, both for the children and our team. A real win-win. It was a wonderful opportunity to share our experience and insights with the children, indeed simply inviting them into a professional office environment where they could mix and interact with our team would prove to be an enlightening experience for them, one that was far removed from their school culture.
The impact of the mentoring on the pupils was quite astounding and our team witnessed their growth with each new session. By the end of the process 100% said they had learned about careers, 86% felt more confident about themselves and their abilities. Our team meanwhile felt a huge amount of pride to see the children grow in confidence and skills, but the benefits were not one-sided by any means. Working outside of comfort zones, harnessing skills not normally used during day to-day work and adapting plans and explanations on the fly were all skills that our team said they developed. The satisfaction of interacting with and benefiting the local community was also a strong theme in the feedback from our team.
The world of work and careers can be made a much less daunting and more exciting prospect, but as we have learnt, business has as much to gain as well. Pairing local businesses and schools can only be a good thing and we encourage other organisations to do the same.