Build My Future Festival is a dynamic annual two-day careers event based in Liverpool. Presented by Northern Schools Trust, the festival is focused on encouraging Year 12 students to take hold of their future and discover their pathway to success, whether this be a university place, an apprenticeship or even full-time employment.
With an amazing list of speakers, workshops and visits lined-up to take place in venues across the Baltic Triangle and wider City region, this year’s festival promised to be even bigger and better than ever.
Day one of the festival saw over three hundred Year 12 students from four schools: Liverpool Life Sciences UTC, The Studio, North Liverpool Academy and The Kingsway Academy. Students gathered in the Camp & Furnace, a converted warehouse and cultural venue in the heart of Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle, to enjoy a morning of engaging careers talks with a line-up of high profile speakers. From Labour MP for Wirral South, Alison McGovern, to famous actor, comedian and writer, Neil Fitzmaurice, students gained an insight into how each speaker pursued their respective careers.
Following on from the morning talks, students split off into individual pathways based upon their career aspirations, these included Medicine, Health, Computing, Sport and many more.
The festival burst into life during the afternoon sessions as students enjoyed specialist workshops and various trips across the City. Healthcare students had the opportunity to visit Edge Hill University for an interactive CPR workshop and campus tour, while sports students met with WBA International Super lightweight boxer, Tom Farrell, at No Limits Gym to explore his journey through boxing and take part in an intense fitness session. Students studying coding even experienced Angel Solutions’ incredible circus-themed office, ‘The Angel Circus’ in Liverpool Science Park. However, one of the most popular trips by far involved our Animal Care students who visited Tails in the City, a day care centre or ‘Dog Creche’ in Liverpool, spending some hands-on time working with and training the inhabitants.
On day two of the Festival, students arrived full of excitement with another action-packed schedule awaiting them. Throughout the morning, they met with leaders and professionals from their chosen pathways to share and discuss their career aspirations. Representatives from high profile organisations, such as We Are Nova, Sony, University of Liverpool, The Anfield Wrap, Launch 22 and Vets 4 Pets joined us to share their knowledge and expertise of working within their sector.
Motivation was the theme for the first session after lunch. Students were invited over to the impressive Constellations venue for a growth mind-set workshop with The Fix Up Team, a group who are passionate about motivating young people.
The culmination of the festival saw students attend a careers fair in the CUC building, where they were given an opportunity to talk with universities, apprenticeship providers and employers from across the region about their future ambitions and prospects. Following on from the careers fair, students headed back over to Constellations full of inspiration. They went on to engage in an collaborative networking event enabling them to share and discuss their experiences of the past two days.
Overall, the festival was a huge success. It was brilliant to see students engage with all our speakers over the two days, and really begin to ‘build their futures’.