A HOST of events to inspire young people’s interest in sectors offering major employment opportunities here in the North-East are planned for the new academic year.

Working in partnership with business Foundation for Jobs runs a series of events for school age pupils aimed at giving them a greater understanding of a wide range of industries including engineering, digital industries, construction, hospitality and many more.

The events are aimed at inspiring young people to consider sectors which are vital to the North-East economy, but can be facing impending skills gaps and struggle to recruit because young people have misplaced preconceptions of what working in them involves.

A conference hosted by South West Durham Training (SWDT) in July was told that skills shortages are a major concern for the North-East’s engineering and manufacturing firms, with around 8,500 skilled workers due to retire from engineering and manufacturing roles in the region by 2016.

In October, Foundation for Jobs will again run its annual Low Carbon Engineering Event where around 100 pupils from secondary schools in Darlington, who are due to choose their GCSE options this year, will take part in practical sessions such as wiring mini wind turbines and computer aided design as well as learning about entry routes to various careers in the sector.

In November Darlington College, working in partnership with Foundation for Jobs, will host two major events.

The first will see pupils take part in building a 14 metre long suspension bridge with the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the second will involve the students building working mini subsea robots, following the same scientific values used in the production of genuine remote operated vehicles (ROVs).

A Foundation for Jobs spokesman said: “All our activities are designed to be enjoyable for the young people involved but there is a serious message we are trying to get across at the same time.

“We are trying to demonstrate that they have the basis of the skills these industries need and that these sectors offer interesting, secure, challenging and very well paid careers far removed from many young people’s perceptions.”

Now a national award-winning project, Foundation for Jobs is a joint initiative to tackle youth unemployment involving Darlington Borough Council, The Northern Echo and the Darlington Partnership of private firms and public sector organisations, which has also enjoyed support from businesses and industrialists across the whole North-East region.

It has worked with more than 2,500 school pupils since its launch in 2012.

For further details contact owen.mcateer@darlington.gov.uk or go to www.foundationforjobs.co.uk