Young Chamber
What is Young Chamber?
Young Chamber is part of the Government’s enterprise education strategy, which encourages greater enterprise capability among young people in education and requires them to be ‘creative and innovative, to take risks and manage them, and to do so with determination and drive’.
Young Chamber helps provide young people with the skills and knowledge they will need to enter the workplace confidently. As part of this students, together with teachers and local Chamber staff, will establish enterprise activities across all year groups. Young Chamber is unique in the way it brings young people together with local businesses. It places the voices of young people and local businesses at the centre of developing their own enterprise education strategies. Schools work closely with Chambers of Commerce in creating vibrant, exciting and realistic opportunities to learn about one another.
An enterprising mindset, a positive attitude and an interest in business are essentials to all young people as they think about their future at work. The hands-on experiences provided by Young Chamber are invaluable assets to both young people and businesses alike. Young Chamber started off as an idea to provide young people with a direct line to businesses and employers in their area. Schools have not always found it an easy task to make links with their commercial neighbours. Businesses have not always taken the step of finding out what potential there might be in the up and coming workforce on their doorstep. Young Chamber is young people led with guidance from teachers, Chamber of Commerce and businesses.
Young Chamber is based on a number of basic principles: mindset: getting rid of stereotypes, preconceptions and generalisations.practical: removing barriers and creating good communication.strength: building on what works and keeping student and business contact simple.ideas: feeding in new ideas from experiences across the Country.
The Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce is working with the Hull Youth Enterprise Partnership / Hull City Council and the Education Business Partnership to make Young Chamber successful. Young Chamber is being funded by the DCSF and across the Yorkshire & Humber region there are 15 schools operating Young Chambers.
What schools currently have a Young Chamber?
Currently the Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce is working with Hull Trinity House School, Malet Lambert, Archbishop Sentamu Academy and Tollbar BEC. All schools have created their own Young Chamber Councils, which operate on a similar principle to the main Chamber's Council, who come up with enterprising activity ideas that incorporate the whole or majority of pupils in the school.
What are the benefits to schools?
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Instant access to the local business community.
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Assist the school in meeting their statutory work-related learning requirements alongside enterprise education.
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Students take responsibility for part of their learning and development and the way it is organised.
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Opportunity for the school staff to tap into the knowledge and experience of business leaders to develop themselves and the school.
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Students get to talk directly to local business people and employers developing the skills they will need to be more successful in the future.
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Young Chamber raises their personal achievement and adds to CVs by allowing them to demonstrate their skills as successful young people.
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It provides students with an opportunity to voice views about local issues.
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Young Chamber provides experience and awareness of business, raising their aspirations of future career plans.
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It develops confidence and personal skills enabling the young person to be more successful in the future.
What are the benefits to your business?
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A means of aggregating and making sense of the vast range of separate school/business activities firms get asked to support, thus bringing some consistency to the connectivity between business and schools and their students.
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Opportunity to raise the profile and branding and image of the business by the interaction and connectivity it has with schools and students.
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Opportunity to explain the role and value of business within the local community to schools (teachers and students).
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The issues business face in doing business can also be explained and views sought from students about their perception of these.
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Opportunity to shape the quality of future employees by explaining the qualities and attitudes, etc. required and assisting in students’ development of these.
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Diverse industries will have better access to attract young people with a wide range of abilities into filling industry skills’ gaps.
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Provides business with a simple way to fulfil elements of their corporate social responsibility agenda.
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Provides personal development opportunities for business staff via their interaction and connectivity with students.
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Opportunity to gain the views and feelings of young people.
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Opportunity to tap into the creativity of the young by asking young people to undertake research and to consider issues affecting the business.
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Can gain youth customers from the connectivity and engagement.
How can businesses support Young Chamber?
for more information on how your business can help these four Young Chambers develop their enterprising skills, please contact Hannah Crookes via email or telephone 01482 324976.
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