New magazine support launched for Lancashire college students

A new magazine designed to help college students in Lancashire to choose their next career steps has been launched by Future U (@lancsfutureu)

‘The U’ will be distributed to all post-16 sixth form and college students throughout the county to give young people the tools and confidence to decide what their next steps will be, whether that’s applying for university or an apprenticeship.

The magazine will also include activities for students to learn new skills that will help with applications or future careers.

In addition, a set of seven live workshop sessions will help both young people and parents to learn more about life after leaving college, including sessions on student finance, university life and CV writing.

The sessions will run from February 24 to March 25 online and are aimed any young people or parent considering their next steps after leaving college.

Oliver Norris, Future U Delivery Officer, said: “With future uncertainty, periods of isolation and school or college closures, young people have been hit hard by the impact of the pandemic over the last year.

“However, we wanted to show our young people that there are still opportunities, careers and a bright future ahead of them. We created The U as a resource available to all our young people, regardless of their situation or access to technology.

“By making the resource available online and offline, as a printed booklet, The U can be used as a handbook for anybody approaching big decisions about their future to work towards self-development and empowerment.

“The U will hopefully provide a platform for young people to engage with their own future over the next year whilst Future U will continue to offer additional content, workshops and support to keep young people engaged with what’s ahead of them.”

The U can be downloaded from Future U’s website, while the live sessions can also be booked on the same website.

Future U is part of the national Uni Connect Programme, funded by the Office for Students, and continues to support school pupils across Lancashire to encourage more young people to think about higher education and future careers. The project involves institutions and organisations across the county including the University of Central Lancashire, Lancaster University, Edge Hill University and the University of Cumbria.

Lancashire’s Future U works with a network of schools, in addition to colleges, higher education providers and local agencies to create tailored activities to meet the needs of students for now and the future.

Its list of partners includes: Blackburn College, Blackpool Sixth Form College, Blackpool and the Fylde College, Burnley College, Edge Hill University, Inspira, Kendal College, Lancaster University, Myerscough College, Nelson and Colne College, Preston’s College, STEMFirst, Runshaw College, The Lancashire Colleges, University of Central Lancashire, University of Cumbria, West Lancashire College.