Funding secured through a Purple Guide Grant will support the setup and delivery of 500 Experience of Work opportunities, helping create new pathways into the UK events industry for young people.
Experience of Work has been developed by The Power of Events to address the growing need for accessible, compliant and meaningful industry exposure for young people. Designed as the next stage of the Schools Engagement Programme, the initiative enables young people to explore potential career pathways by stepping inside real event environments and experiencing opportunities available across the sector.
The Power of Events CEO, Rick Stainton, said, “This funding is an incredibly important step in helping us all create meaningful, accessible and inspiring opportunities for young people to experience our industry first-hand.
The Events sector offers such a huge range of careers, skills and pathways, many of which young people simply do not know exist. Experience of Work is designed to change that by opening doors, building confidence and showcasing the incredible people and environments that make our industry so special.
We are enormously grateful for the support of the Purple Guide and the other Partner Associations and excited to work alongside businesses across the country to bring these opportunities to life.”
Over the last few months, pilot Experience of Work opportunities have already been delivered in partnership with The O2, PLASA and THE TEAM, with a number of additional programmes currently in the pipeline.
Four industry associations have now formally pledged places towards the initiative, including MIA, PSA, ABPCO and PLASA, demonstrating industry-wide support for creating opportunities for young people across the seven core event sectors.
An Experience of Work Toolkit will provide a step-by-step guide to help businesses of all sizes host a day's programme for groups ranging from 5-50 young people.
Steve Heap, Events Industry Council said, "The directors and publishers of The Purple Guide are very pleased to be able to support the amazing work of Power of Events through this grant,” says Steve Heap, the Purple Guide Board Chair.
"If our outdoor events industry is to survive the challenges of the 21st century, we must encourage young people into our workforce and one way to achieve this is through hands-on experiences on our event sites. As well as training up the next generation of event staff, we must also recognise the right time to step aside and make way for their ideas and enthusiasm.
“Ours is a constantly evolving industry, which is reflected in the regular improvements and updates to The Purple Guide and it is thanks to all those that subscribe that we are able to provide funding for this very important project."
