More than 30 pupils from Langley Academy near Slough spent the day at Central Hall Westminster, central London’s largest conferencing and events centre, for a behind-the-scenes look at the events industry. The World of Work Day was organised by Yes Futures, a national education charity which targets students with personalised support.
This is the first time the leading London venue has taken part in the scheme and invited the group of 12-14-year-old-students in for some interactive and educational sessions which gave an insight into the multi-faceted roles within the thriving events industry. Hosted jointly with Central Hall’s production partner, White Light, the students were given a welcome and tour by the Visitor Services team before exploring room set-ups within the building, porterage and security, with a demonstration on the systems used. They were also treated to an interactive AV session which included presentations on the production processes involved in high-profile events from concerts to conferences.
Finally, the pupils were given an opportunity to make and decorate chocolate brownies with assistance from staff at Central Hall’s catering partner, Kudos.
Both Central Hall Westminster and its production partner, White Light, feel strongly that initiatives such as the World of Work Day are of vital importance with a view to developing the future generation of talent within the creative and event industries.
Helena Smith, Head of Programmes at Yes Futures commented: “Yes Futures is a multi-award winning charity, dedicated to improving the self-esteem and life chances of young people. Our World of Work partners, like Central Hall Westminster, play a significant role in developing the aspirations and confidence of our students. Through this immersive experience day, kindly hosted by Central Hall Westminster, 30 young people will have their eyes opened to the breadth of future opportunities available to them and will begin to shape their own career ideas. In turn, this will help them to become more motivated to achieve at school. We are extremely grateful to the entire team at Central Hall Westminster for enabling this to happen.
Jonjo Glynn, White Light’s Venues Director, added: “There is a widening skills gap, particularly in a technical capacity, so we were delighted to collaborate with Central Hall Westminster for an outreach programme of this nature. Our award-winning annual apprenticeship scheme has been established since 2011 but we value the opportunity to engage with even younger people, to inspire them with the career opportunities that our sector has to offer. The interactive tasks we ran for the World of Work Day were designed for young people to experience what happens behind the tech desk at events and demonstrate the range of technical skills required.”
Paul Southern, Managing Director of Central Hall Westminster, concluded: “The World of Work Day was a great success and we were delighted to give these young people a behind-the-scenes look at our wonderful venue. It is of immense importance to encourage new generations into the thriving and diverse events industry which offers such a great variety of exciting and fulfilling roles. We are glad the pupils had a fantastic day and we hope we inspired them to join us in the industry.”
