Young men inspired for future careers
Young men from across Hackney attended an inspirational careers event at Young Hackney’s Forest Road Youth Hub on Wednesday 18 October.
Over 40 young people attended the event, coming from local secondary schools; Stoke Newington, New Regents and Swanlea.
The day saw local professional men and entrepreneurs of all ages and from a range of backgrounds, sharing their stories and offering informal career advice on their field of expertise in a bid to motivate and galvanise young men.
Guest speakers included Academy Award winner James Lucas, assistant general manager for Westfield Europe Ltd Jason Knight and recruitment company director Richard Blackburn, Hackney apprentices, architects, community organisers and people from other fields who all had an inspirational story to tell.
Ryan Boothe, 14 from Stoke Newington school said: “I feel really inspired after today, it’s actually helped me think about how I present myself and can be more confident in myself to achieve and do what I want to do in life.”
The young audience listened to speeches and took part in discussion groups to talk informally with all 16 of the speakers.
Thaddaus Brown, 20, from Clapton, who chaired the panel discussion and talked about his design apprenticeship, said: “I felt inspired hearing other people’s stories, it was great to share mine too, and encourage more people to think about doing an apprenticeship.”
The speakers gave valuable insights into their chosen career paths, talking about their real life experiences, successes and failures, which all helped them grow and achieve. Young people discussed perceptions of young men in the media and the effects it has on their aspirations. The groups also talked about the importance of having good role models in celebrities and peers.
Jo Byrne, PE teacher at Stoke Newington school said: “This event gave our young people the chance to see and hear a timeline of how someone has become successful with reference to where they may have been less successful on the way, but eventually they have archived something great, which is a really important thing to hear.”
The speakers represented a diverse range of careers from business management to film production, giving young people an opportunity to network and think about what they can achieve in their future careers. This event was a great way to celebrate the successes of local people and inspire young people to be the successful people of tomorrow.
I would like to thank Thaddaeus Brown for chairing the discussion and all those who volunteered their time and expertise on the day.
For more information on Young Hackney and to see what other events they are hosting you can visit: www.younghackney.org.