Last month we were joined by 24 young and young adult carers for our bespoke education and careers fair YAC FUTURES 2023, at SkillZone, Gloucester. This year we prioritised those from Year 11, sixth form and college alongside others who were needing direction within education or future careers.  

After ‘CV writing’ and ‘confidence building’ workshops in the morning the delegates enjoyed a buffet lunch alongside a chance to talk to representatives from local support organisations at our pop-up street of stands.

They then headed into an afternoon of Speed Networking - this two-hour session saw the young people test out their new interviewing skills on ten local businesses and employers. They were able to find out more about career pathways and the realities of work life from NHS, Police, Fire Services, Retail, Travel, IT Services, Events & Fitness, Funeral Directors, Law, and Social Media.  

GYC staff and the professionals that attended were so impressed with the maturity, enthusiasm, engagement, interest, and commitment that the young and young adult carers showed throughout the day.  

We had excellent feedback from the young and young adult carers that attended - when asked what they enjoyed most about the day.  

“Looking at all the different job opportunities” 

“Being able to speak to lots of people and consider my next steps in my career path” 

“I loved how supportive everyone was and how they actually cared about us “    

Other things that they enjoyed were "meeting other people", one attendee described how "I came out feeling happy that I had met a new friend in the taxi".

The generosity of our business and corporate supporters made the event a real success. They also gave good feedback.  “Venue great, food lovely and nice to meet the other businesses and talk to the young people”.  The event was “fun, eye opening and rewarding”.  Reflections on GYC “a fantastic charity that needs all the support it can get’. 

We would like to give a special thanks to Gloucester Rotary Club, The Midcounties Co-operative and Alexander Burn Funeral Directors for their funding and support for this event, and also our fabulous volunteers Pam and Ros.