Celebrating Youth Employment Week 2024 at Avon Tyrrell Outdoor Centre
This week is youth employment week, celebrating early careers, joining young people, employers, educators, and organisations.
It focuses on connecting young people to opportunities and support, while raising awareness of the benefits of hiring young people.
Each year it aims to get young people to discover careers and pathways that suit their strengths, build their knowledge and in turn boost their confidence, setting them up to explore different possibilities to progress their career.
Here at UK Youth’s Avon Tyrrell Outdoor Centre, we celebrate young people working with us through our apprenticeships and work experience placements.
Over the past few months, we have been lucky to welcome many young people on work experience.
Work Experience at Avon Tyrrell Outdoor Centre
They join our Outdoor Learning team for one or two weeks and assist with activities such as raft building, bushcraft, low ropes or high ropes and archery.
Throughout their time with us, participants will:
- Shadow/assist on activity sessions
- Set up/down equipment and prepare resources
- Support our team with general site duties
- Attend briefs and meetings
- Complete a simple handbook recording their time with us.
Alice, who spent a week on work experience with us in June, said: “I had an amazing time and loved learning new things and trying activities. I enjoyed working with the schools participating in outdoor activities and will consider this career for my future.”
Our aim on such placements is to provide equitable opportunities for young people from all backgrounds to find out about the day-to-day work of an activities instructor in a supportive environment, enabling young people, under supervision, to undertake simple duties associated with outdoor activity provision. We hope that at the end of their placement, they will have a better understanding of what a career outdoors could look like and will inspire them to consider a career in the outdoors.
James, who completed a placement with us in July, said the experience ”exceeded my expectations”.
He said: “It was a very nice work environment and everyone was very polite and nice to me. I was always treated with respect, my time was fun and I would love to work in a place like this when I am older.”
– James
Apprenticeships at Avon Tyrrell Outdoor Centre
One of the benefits of our work experience programme is young people get to work alongside our highly skilled outdoor learning team, some of whom are currently in their first or second year of our Outdoor Learning Apprenticeship scheme.
Our two-year OL apprenticeship aims to help young people find entry to employment in a variety of outdoor industries. We currently have nine apprentices, including four in their first year completing their apprenticeship and gaining externally accredited industry qualifications,
Our apprenticeships are open to anyone aged 18 and over, no expereince is necessary although a passion for the outdoors or working with young poeple is beneficial, pespecially if they have a can-do attitude and enthusiastic personality, an apprenticeship with us could be for them!
One of the benefits of our work experience programme is young people get to work alongside our highly skilled outdoor learning team, some of whom are currently in their first or second year of our Outdoor Learning Apprenticeship scheme.
Our two-year OL apprenticeship aims to help young people find entry to employment in a variety of outdoor industries. We currently have nine apprentices, including four in their first year completing their apprenticeship and gaining externally accredited industry qualifications,
Our apprenticeships are open to anyone aged 18 and over, no expereince is necessary although a passion for the outdoors or working with young poeple is beneficial, pespecially if they have a can-do attitude and enthusiastic personality, an apprenticeship with us could be for them!
Our apprenticeship is more than just qualifications, it is about the lifestyle and changing other’s lives. During the 2 years, apprentices will be making a difference in young people’s lives, offering them the opportunity to experience, learn and develop through and outdoor learning that also supports lifelong physical literacy. Many of our apprentices and instructors live on-site, in our accommodation, and adventure is always calling them. From evening campfires and paddles on the lake to weekends away cycling and exploring – there is always something going on for our apprentices and instructors outside of work.
Grace, who is now a full-time instructor after completing her apprenticeship, said her outdoor learning apprenticeship was “quite life-changing”, as it “provides the perfect environment to completely throw yourself into every aspect of instructing while being supported by highly knowledgeable staff who are constantly inspiring and pushing you to be the best instructor you can be”.
We are now recruiting for new apprentices to join our team in October.
For more details, visit the webpage or email outdoorlearning@ukyouth.org
