Foot in the Door Coventry: make work experience work
A campaign run with and for young people in Coventry, asking local businesses to open their doors to work experience.
Coventry to Downing Street
Foot in the Door Coventry is a campaign run with young people and for young people. Its tagline, make work experience work, was written by young people in the city.
On Tuesday 10 November, 15 young people from Bluecoat School and Barrs Hill School will take the train to London for a tour of Number 10. They’ll meet the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Pat McFadden, and the Minister for Skills, Jacqui Smith, to tell them what good work experience would mean for young people in Coventry.
[Quote from one of the young people involved, with parental consent. Remove if we don’t get one]
[First name], [age][Quote from one of the young people involved, with parental consent. Remove if we don’t get one]
[First name], [age]Why work experience matters
A week of work experience opens doors. For many young people it’s the first time they walk into a real workplace: getting there on time, working alongside colleagues, speaking up in a meeting, and learning how things work somewhere very different from school. It shows them jobs and careers they might never have heard of, and the more doors they get to look through, the more they can picture for themselves.
In just one week, the change can be striking. Young people come back more confident, more independent, and with real experience to talk about when they take their next step.
The difference lasts, too. Young people who had four or more contacts with employers while at school were 86% less likely to be out of education, employment or training as young adults, according to research by the charity Education and Employers.
Sign the petition
We’re asking businesses and employers across Coventry to offer work experience placements to young people in the city.
Sign to show Coventry’s businesses that the city is behind its young people.
Who’s backing it
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“Young people in Coventry deserve a foot in the door. We know that young people who get to know employers while they’re still at school are far less likely to end up out of work or training later on. Just one week with a local business could open up futures they’d never imagined. This campaign is about making sure every young person gets that chance, and every business can help give them that start.”
Praful NargundOne of the campaign’s organisers -
“Work experience is often where young people first see what their future could look like. I’m proud of the young people from our city who made this trip today, and I hope Coventry’s businesses will open their doors to them.”
Councillor Shahnaz AkhterLower Stoke ward, Coventry City Council -
“Our students coined the slogan ‘make work experience work’, drawing on their own frustrations at the lack of opportunity across our city. The future workforce is already in our classrooms, and the experiences, relationships and opportunities we create today will help shape the possibilities of tomorrow. Sometimes meaningful change starts with something seemingly small: an introduction, an experience, a conversation. One foot in the door. But we have to be willing to open it.”
Gemma HathawaySenior Assistant Headteacher, Blue Coat Church of England School
Run a business in Coventry?
Could you offer a work experience placement to a young person in the city? Get in touch and we’ll talk you through it.
Or email contact@footinthedoorcoventry.co.uk
Press
- Media contact: contact@footinthedoorcoventry.co.uk
- Download the press release [link to add]
- Download photos cleared for use [link to add]