From education to employment

Cambridgeshire college puts students’ Future First

Cambridgeshire college puts students’ Future First

Former students from a Cambridge college are being asked to go back to the classroom to inspire current students to career confidence and academic success.

Among college alumni already registered to inspire the current generation to career confidence and academic success are a Michelin star chef, US footballers and an ambassador for a charity for the blind.

Cambridge Regional College, which has campuses in California Road, Huntington, and King Hedges Road, Cambridge, has joined a programme run by the national education charity Future First which helps state schools and colleges develop ‘old school tie’ networks allowing them to harness the talents and experience of alumni to support the current generation.

The former students will be invited to return to volunteer at workshops and events to raise and broaden the aspirations of students. The workshops are designed to motivate young people so they are more likely to be able to achieve a career of their choice regardless of their background.

The college’s alumni include restaurateur James Knappett who has worked with celebrity chefs including Gordon Ramsey, sports alumni Sol Goodby, Emre Tursucu and David Ramjee, now playing football in the USA, and former soldier Billy Baxter who was blinded in battle before studying at the college and who now works for the charity Blind Veterans UK.

Cambridge Regional College is one of a thousand state secondary schools and colleges across Britain which have worked with Future First. Future First’s vision is that every state school or college should be supported by a thriving, engaged alumni community that helps it to do more for its students. More than 240,000 former students nationwide have already signed up to stay connected with their old school. They’re motivating young people as career and education role models, mentors, work experience providers, governors and fundraisers. 

Cambridge Regional College wants to contact former students in established careers and recent leavers in further education, alumni who live nearby and those who have moved away.

Emily Bennett, Director of Student Support Services, said:

“Our former sports student David Ramjee, who is now playing football in America, rightly says that the harder you work, the more opportunities you create for yourself. Our alumni have achieved amazing success and we want them to come back for assemblies and workshops to broaden the work horizons of our young people and give them confidence to know that they can succeed in a career of their choice too.”

Beth Goddard, Future First Director of Programmes, said,

“The transition from school to work is challenging for students and the benefits of employer encounters in the classroom is now widely recognised.  Alumni volunteers who can share their careers experience, broaden students’ jobs horizons and act as relatable role models are an integral part of any good school careers curriculum and helps inspire and motivate students to success, regardless of their background.”

 


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