Blackpool Aspirations Week: Monday 22nd May – Friday 26th May 2017

Over 150 volunteers have been visiting primary schools across Blackpool this week to help raise aspirations and broaden the horizons of children in the areas.

Below are a small selection of photographs. To see the rest please click here.

To get involved either as a school or volunteer just visit the Primary Futures website.

The reaction from the children has been amazing. One eight year old from Stanley Primary School said “what I loved about this day was that we got to explore different jobs that are in the world that we didn’t know about. This experience has allowed me to keep an open mind about my future job”.

It all started last year, with one Blackpool school, St Nicholas C of E Primary, hosting an event with volunteers. At the time the school only had access to the 45 volunteers registered on the free online matchmaking system,  Inspiring the Future. Thanks to the success of the event word has spread and there are now over 500 volunteers registered in the Blackpool area.

This week has seen a series of activities with volunteers from the world of work chatting to the children about their job, career route and the subjects they studied at school. Volunteers have represented a huge variety of industry sectors and many of the major employers from Blackpool Council, NHS and HMRC to Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Radio Wave, Lancashire Police, the Merchant Navy and many more.

Andy Mellor, Headteacher of St Nicholas C of E Primary believes that this is a project which has real impact on the lives of primary aged children. He said that “We want our children in Blackpool to aspire to be the best that they can be, to work hard and achieve their full potential. The partnership between schools and the business community in Blackpool and wider afield is seeing children inspired to achieve more and widens their horizons. The country is looking to Blackpool as a model for this work and the town should be proud of this work which is setting the pace nationally, and it is free to schools!”

Read the coverage from the Blackpool Gazette.

The schools who took part were:

• Bispham Endowed C of E Primary School, Monday 22nd May
• Hawes Side Academy, Tuesday 23rd May
• Stanley Primary School Wednesday 24th May
• St John Vianney Catholic Primary, Thursday 24^th May
• Anchorsholme Academy, Friday 25^th May 

Special thanks go to 5 people who took part every day – Jane Croft, Effie Sharpe, Kath Corrigan and Nigel Whitaker, and to those who traveled from London to take part in Blackpool Aspirations week including Lord Lucas, Editor of the Good Schools Guide,  Kim Johnson, Anne Lyons, Russell Hobby and Charles Horesey. The volunteers who took part included: