Work and wellbeing of young people are topping the agenda at WorldSkills UK LIVE the UK’s most important vocational event – which comes to the NEC Birmingham in November.
The UK’s biggest vocational gateway-to-work event is dedicated to finding young people jobs, apprenticeships and training courses – whilst giving them the mental strength and resilience to flourish to the full.
WorldSkills UK LIVE, at the NEC, Birmingham, from November 21-23 is deemed as the very best event of its kind in Europe, and is brimming with stimulating hands-on exhibits, fascinating talks and Q&A sessions with leading employers and scintillating entertainment.
Dozens of the UK’s major employers, organisations and educators will have a high-profile presence at LIVE in their quest to recruit the next generation of high-fliers. Among them will be BAE Systems, Toyota Manufacturing UK, Health Education England, Lloyds Banking Group, Army, Middlesex University and Leicester College.
For the first time the free to enter interactive event is to be streamed live, with several daily broadcasts ‘Live at LIVE’ and expected to reach tens of thousands of young people who are unable to travel to the West Midlands.
WorldSkills UK, the organisation behind LIVE, will be sharing its top tips from its international medal-winning mental strength training which is used to train its elite team of young women and men who excelled in this summer’s ‘skills Olympics’ to help young people prepare for the challenges of work.
While Mental Health charities, organisations and experts will use the event as a hub to pass on best practice, helpful hints and practical advice to young people, parents and teachers about how to tackle mental health issues in school and the workplace.
Ben Blackledge, Deputy CEO of WorldSkills UK said: “We want to give young people an inspirational insight into what their future career could be, and by working with the UK’s leading employers, education and training organisations at LIVE they can access careers advice and see the skills they need to reach their full potential. But just as important is helping them understand the steps they need to take at work and in training to support them in looking after their well-being and manage the pressures they face. That is why this year we have made Mental Strength a key theme of LIVE as we believe this is a key element of helping young people, from all backgrounds, succeed in work and life.”
Among the initiatives taking place at LIVE are:
The Million Minds Tour – culminates at LIVE with an attempt to deliver the world’s largest mental health lesson to young people (Friday 22 November) – with influencers, experts and coaches passing on tips & techniques to improve mental strength and wellbeing. British grime and hip-hop rapper, singer and producer Lady Leshurr from Solihull will be among those providing the live entertainment.
Explorer and extreme athlete Ash Dykes, DIY SOS star Mark Millar and TV presenter Stefan Gates will be speaking at LIVE and sharing their inspirational career stories.
The world’s first customised virtual reality careers guidance where visitors will be able to discover what career and course opportunities are available and best suited to them based on their interests and personality traits, all through an immersive VR experience called VICTAR.
The LIVE event is also the backdrop for the all-important National Finals of WorldSkills UK’s Competitions. More than 500 apprentices and students will compete in over 70 different disciplines – battling to be the best in the UK and hoping to secure the opportunity to compete to represent the UK at the WorldSkills Finals, known as the ‘skills Olympics’ in Shanghai in 2021.
