Intu Inspires NOTTS Students to Develop Skills for Employment

Added by Love Business East Midlands | 27 March 2017

UPDATED: 27 March 2017

NOTTINGHAM shopping centres, intu Victoria Centre and intu Broadmarsh, are further strengthening their relationship with Nottingham Academy through the launch of a four-year mentoring programme.

The ‘Inspire’ programme has been designed to help students develop key skills for improving employability, while also helping during the years leading up to GCSEs through offering advice on potential career paths and opportunities for local students.

intu has been working with Nottingham Academy for a number years, including its work organising and funding an annual Outward Bound adventure for up to forty year 8 children. Thanks to the success of the Outward Bound scheme, intu mentors will continue to support students through to the end of year 11 by offering unique coaching sessions each term. These sessions will range from CV workshops, to job interview techniques and even work experience placements for a few lucky students.

Speaking of the partnership, Nigel Wheatley, general manager for intu in Nottingham, said, “We have a long standing relationship with Nottingham Academy and we are delighted to be enhancing this relationship with the launch of the Inspire programme.

“It’s so important for us to be in touch with our local community and through schemes such as this, our teams are offered the opportunity to share their knowledge, skills and expertise with the next generation, which they truly relish and participate fully in.

“We hope that through the Inspire programme we are able to showcase the exciting opportunities a career in retail can bring.”

There will be 38 students participating in the first Inspire programme, which began when students met their mentors at intu Victoria Centre. Students were able to get a taste of what it is like to work on the mall in the centre, hear advice from intu staff on the exciting career possibilities in retail and received a coaching session on social media success, with popcorn provided by the centre team.

Nicky Brown, assistant headteacher at Nottingham Academy, said: “The Inspire programme is a fantastic opportunity for our students at Nottingham Academy and allows them to build on relationships with their intu mentors initially developed at the Outward Bound Centre. The programme will support them with the development of key employability skills and give them a further insight into the world of work.”

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